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1 





THE LIFE OF 

LOUIS ADOLPHE THIERS 



FRANgOIS Le GOFF 

DOCTEUR-ES-LETTRES 



TRANSLATED FROM THE UNPUBLISHED MANUSCRIPT 



THEODORE STANTON, A.M. 



Patriam dilexit, veritatem coluit. 



NEW YORK 

G. P PUTNAM'S SONS 

l82 FIFTH AVENUE 
1879 



^ 



ofx^ 



Copyright by G. P. Putnam's Sons, 1879. 



NOV 7 wo 




DEDICATION. 



To M. J. BARTH&LEMY ST. HILAIRE, 

Senator and Member of the Institute. 

In authorizing me to place your name at the head of this 

History of your illustrious friend, you give my work a most 

valued endorsement. I thank you for this in my own name 

and in that of my readers in the great American Republic. 

No testimony of confidence and esteem could honor me more, 

and my readers could not have a better guarantee of the 

spirit of justice and of truth, which has inspired the work 

now offered to them from across the ocean. 

F. LeG. 



TRANSLATOR'S NOTE. 



My own part in the preparation of this volume has been 
more than that of Translator. From the Author's large 
mass of manuscript, I have selected and arranged these 
three or four hundred pages. I have, either by clauses 
in the body of the page or by notes at the bottom, en- 
deavored to explain references to French politics and cus- 
toms, and to fairly identify the different characters men- 
tioned ; and I trust that I have, through the data thus 
given, succeeded in making the narrative sufficiently 
clear and complete. I have also, in a few instances, in- 
serted an anecdote or letter, and added a paragraph or 
two that I thought would interest the American public. 
The opinions, however, expressed in this book belong to 
the Author. 

The portrait of Thiers in this volume is engraved from 
an eau-forte of the celebrated painting of Bonnat. Thiers's 
Paris hotel is from a photograph made for this work by 
M. Carjat, one of the best Parisian photographers. The 
facsimile of Thiers's handwriting is from a photograph 
also by M. Carjat, taken, by the kind permission and un- 
der the obliging direction of Mme. Thiers, from the orig* 
inal manuscript of Thiers's famous posthumous letter to 
his constituents. I am indebted to Chief-Justice Geo. 
Shea, of the Marine Court, for the autograph of Thiers 

found under the portrait. 

T. S. 

Ithaca, N. Y. 

December, 1878. 



CONTENTS 

Early Life . . . » I 

The Revolution of July ...... 26 

Early Years of the July Monarchy ... 50 

Rivalry of Thiers and Guizot .... 92 

Republic of 1848 138 

Thiers and the Empire 161 

The Revolution of September 4TH . . .189 

Thiers's Presidency 203 

The Fall of Thiers 244 

The Hotel of the Place Saint-Georges . . 269 
The Last Days of Thiers . . . , .310 

Appendices ......... 33,1 



AUTHOR'S PREFACE. 



I do not think you have an exact idea in America of 
France. The Atlantic seems to hide her from you or lets 
you see her only through dense mists. The illusion 
often remains, even after the distance that separates you 
from her has been passed over. Afar off, you see little 
or you see badly ; near by, the brilliant and agitated fore- 
ground alone attracts your gaze ; you do not see the back- 
ground, or rather the delicate blending of the colors, 
which is as important for an exact and complete under- 
standing of a picture as the background itself. This 
phenomenon, however, is easily explained. An old 
society which aspires to a loftier life, to a new growth, 
which is struggling to throw off the narrow robe of the 
past, does not resemble a young society, full-grown, which 
cuts out for itself a generous garment from a tissue 
woven by its own hands. The same institutions do not 
breathe the same spirit there, nor have words the same 



viii Author s Preface. 

signification, and, what appears not less strange, the same 
principles do not produce the same consequences. The 
best persons are liable, therefore, unless, on their guard, 
to make mistakes concerning men as well as things, so 
that good intentions and impartial judgment are not 
always safe guides. 

Perhaps there is not a more striking example of this 
facility of delusion concerning France, than the opinion 
of Thiers, expressed by Mr. John Bigelow in his book 
entitled France and Hereditary Monarchy, published in 
1 87 1. Party spirit has rarely brought against the illustri- 
ous statesman, even in his own country, so many and so 
grave accusations. Without limiting himself to those 
which might have their raison d'etre in the events of the 
day, and which sprang, as it were, from the still smoking 
ruins of Paris, Mr. Bigelow has been pleased to go back 
to the earliest political life of the statesman whom he has 
taken to task, and he finds there almost all the germs of 
the misfortunes that have befallen France for more than 
twenty-five years. If the last of the Napoleons under- 
took that foolish and terrible war which overthrew his 
dynasty and mutilated his country, it is the fault of 
Thiers. If Louis Philippe fell from the throne in 1848, 
it is likewise the fault of Thiers. If the Empire arose in 
185 1 on the ruins of the Republic, it is again the fault of 



Author s Preface. ix 

Thiers, who, in reviving the Napoleonic legend, restored 
the adoration of Bonaparte and thus prepared a name 
and an instrument for despotism. Thiers, according to 
Mr. Bigelow, was not less hurtful during the latter part of 
his life than during this early period. As soon as he 
came upon the scene again, near the end of the second 
Empire, he is the auxiliary of the ultramontanes in their 
anti-gallican policy, and the enemy of all legislation fav- 
orable to the emancipation of the schools, opening them 
to the light of modern thought and popular influence ; 
and, finally, placed at the head of the executive power by 
the Assembly at Bordeaux in 1871, Thiers was justly 
suspected of preparing the return of the Orleans Mon- 
archy, (Mr. Bigelow's words are : " was merely warming 
the bed for some scion of the House of Bourbon ; ") of 
reviving the despotism he had combated, and of placing 
the government in an attitude of marked hostility towards 
the governed.* 

* France and Hereditary Monarchy, pp. 9 and 10. 

President White, of Cornell University, one of our best read students of 
French history, has about the same opinion as Mr. Bigelow concerning 
Thiers, if we may judge from the following extracts from a letter to the 
translator of this volume : 

" Though Mr. Thiers' life has been very interesting, I have never admired 
him in the slightest degree, until the last days of his career, beginning with the 
close of the Franco-German struggle. Before that time, he seemed to me a 
curse to his country and to Europe , but then he became a sublimely energetic 
and patriotic public servant. * * * To him more than any other man in 
France is due a sort of Mephistophelian deification of Revolution on the one 
hand, and of Napoleonic despotism on the other. Yet, he did more to heal 
the wounds he had done so much to cause, than any other man could do." 



x Author s Preface. 

If Mr. Bigelow were to draw up his act of accusation 
to-day, he would no doubt revise it in more than one of 
its articles. Recent events have thrown a light on cer- 
tain points before obscured, which render all illusion of 
perspective impossible, and brings clearly before the 
most inattentive eyes the character of the man and the 
unity of his life. There cannot, I think, remain a doubt 
concerning the unity of the political life of Thiers after 
the perusal of this sketch. I have followed Thiers 
throughout almost all of his career with keen and con- 
stant interest, not to say regard ; I have read all that he 
has written, all that he has spoken in the tribune ; I have 
heard him deliver most of his great speeches for the last 
ten years ; I knew him personally and I am acquainted 
with many of his friends. To this knowledge of my sub- 
ject, I think I may add a fair share of impartiality. 

In closing this preface, I would remark, that in spite of 
the great interest attached to the public life of a man 
who, occupied during more than a half century, so im- 
portant a place in the history of his country, who played 
the first part under such different circumstances, and in 
such various situations, it is not so much Thiers whom I 
have in view in speaking of the former President of the 
French Republic, of the historian of the Consulate and 
Empire, of the Ex-minister of Louis Philippe, as the 



Authors Preface. xi 

country and the epoch in which his long life was passed. 
It will be for me a sort of pretext, a means, the best per- 
haps, of penetrating into the intricacies of a society com- 
plicated of itself, rendered more perplexing by the agita- 
tions of its surface, and of seizing out the difficulties of 
the problems there being discussed, the passions and in- 
terests which there dispute for empire. All of these 
problems, passions and interests are grouped about 
Thiers, and form, as it were, his retinue. The light that 
he emits will flash upon them and will aid us to see clear- 
ly into this " visible darkness." 

Francois LeGoff, 
July 1878. 44 rue Monge, Paris. 



LOUIS ADOLPH THIERS. 



CHAPTER I. 

EARLY LIFE. — 1797-1829. 

Thiers was born at Marseilles on the morning of April 
1 Kih, 1797, at ten minutes past two, in his grandmother's 
house, number 15 rue des Petits-Peres. The house to-day- 
bears the number 40.* His mother's name was Marie 
Madeleine Amic ; his father's, Pierre Louis Marie Thiers. 
He was baptized Marie Joseph Louis Adolphe, the first 
two names in honor of the poet Marie Joseph Chenier, 
who was his second cousin, Thiers's grandmother on 
his mother's side being the sister of the mother of the 
Cheniers. 

The physician who was present at the birth of Thiers 
pronounced the child " turbulent and very viable," f char- 
acteristics that were seen in the whole after life of the 
man, who was one of the most active spirits of his time, 
whose remarkable vitality carried him through four polit- 
ical revolutions, supported him in the midst of immense 
literary labors, and only failed him after he had passed 
the advanced age of four score years. 

* See Appendix A for the Registry of Birth. 

f See Appendix B for the curious note found ini the diary of this phy- 



2 Life of Thiers. 

On his mother's side, Thiers was of eastern origin. 
His grandfather was a merchant of Marseilles, but his 
grandmother, named Santi-Lomaica, ,was a Greek. They 
were as familiar with the Greek language as with the 
Provencal; were courageous, impressionable, quick to 
anger and not less prompt to reconciliation. They were 
strongly attached to royalty. The father of Thiers, on 
the contrary, was a friend of the Revolution and had 
even played a part in it as a member of the Commit- 
tee of Public Safety at Marseilles. When the reaction 
against the Terrorists set in,* fearing for his safety, he 
was introduced into the Amic family by a common 
friend — an Italian lady, who lived at Chateau-Gombert, 
a little spot in the environs of Marseilles, — where he was 
sure his enemies would not follow him. Mile. Amic fell 
in love with the guest of her father, touched by his mis- 
fortunes, dazzled, doubtless, also by the brilliancy of his 
mind, the distinction of his manners; and, in spite of his 
poverty, his widowhood, his family embarrassments — he 
had some children — in spite of his revolutionary opin- 
ions which she detested, Mile. Amic decided to marry 
him. She was a beautiful girl, of a lively imagination 
of ready and highly-colored conversational powers, like 
all the children of Marseilles, and of an energetic and 
decided character. 

It is customary to-day to endeavor to find in the gen- 

* Robespierre, the soul of the Reign of Terror, was guillotined on July 
27th, 1794, — the gth Thermidor — and the Directory then came into power 
with milder measures. 



Early Life. 3 

ealogy of celebrated men the precursory signs, the psy- 
chologic seeds of their future growth and genius. Ata- 
vism has become one of the factors of history. Thiers 
was not repugnant to this doctrine, perhaps because he 
knew his own pedigree. What we have just said con- 
cerning his mother's family does not contradict the in- 
fluence of origin, nor does that which is known and 
which he was accustomed to tell voluntarily concerning 
his father and his father's ancestors. 

The paternal family of Thiers, which belonged to that 
ancient bourgeoisie of Marseilles that from 1560 to 1775 
exercised in that city an almost absolute power, presents, 
in the course of three generations, some singular and not 
mediocre types. His great-grandfather, a rich merchant, 
talented, loving society and good eating, giving grand din- 
ners, was finally ruined in speculations with the French 
colonies and died at the age of ninety-seven. His grand- 
father was appointed archivist of Marseilles by a decree 
of Louis XV, dated at Versailles, September 16th, 1770, 
in which, referring to the three candidates presented by 
the Municipal Council of Marseilles to fill the vacancy, 
the royal document reads: "His Majesty considers all 
three of them worthy, yet, being well informed of the 
fidelity and affection for his service of M. Charles Thiers, 
advocate at the Parliament of Aix, His Majesty desig- 
nates him to exercise the functions of the office." He 
also wrote an able history of Provence, was a sturdy roy- 
alist, and died in his ninety-fifth year, pursued by the 



4 Life of Thiers. [1807-9. 

wrath of his republican enemies. The father of Thiers 
did not hold to the monarchical beliefs of his ancestors, 
nor does he appear to have led as upright a life. His 
father left him about ten thousand dollars — not a small 
fortune in those days — which he quickly wasted in wild 
speculations and in dissipations of the worst kind.* The 
father of Thiers would be called in the parlance of to-day 
a "fast" man. He was a wandering and original charac- 
ter, a great lover of novelties and adventures., a grand 
builder of air-castles, by turns merchant, theatrical man- 
ager, director of a gambling house, knowing everything, 
talking about everything, never embarrassed by a ques- 
tion, sometimes rich, oftener poor, but never losing faith 
in himself or despairing of the future. How many of 
these characteristics he transmitted to his son ! Good 
sense, however, he seemed to lack, a quality that the 
son, fortunately for his success, possessed in a large 
degree. 

Thlers's first years were spent either at Marseilles or in 
short visits to little towns in the environs of the city. As 
he advanced in years his physical development was slow- 
er than his mental. When he was seven years old he had 
the stature and the features of a child of four or five. At 
this period he was sent to a school where he acquired the 
principles of the French and Latin languages, and at nine 
he became a day scholar at the Marseilles Lycee.f 

* Adolphe Thiers, by Achille Gastaldy, page 17. 

f A Lycee in France is the State school that prepares for the University 1 
it partakes of the nature both of our college and high school. 



-*t. 8-12.] Early Life. 5 

The school bills were paid by one of Thiers's aunts and 
by a cousin, the latter being the wife of a rich Marseilles 
merchant. Three years later, as the result of a competitive 
examination, he gained one of the scholarships at the 
Lycee. This was in 1809, at the age of twelve. 

The delighted mother, too poor to educate her son and 
sensitive at his dependence on his relations, writes to the 
Mayor of Marseilles the following letter, which has re- 
cently been discovered among the archives of that city. 

Mr Mayor : 

Accept my thanks for the attention you have 
shown me in informing me of the admission of my son to the 
Lycee ol this city, by the letter with which you honored me, 
the fourth of this month ; he will try to make himself worthy of 
the favor, by his application and exactness, and thus merit in 
some degree the esteem of his superiors and of the head of the 
University ; yours also, sir, will be very flattering. 

I have the honor to be, with respectful consideration, sir, 
your very humble servant, 

Thiers nee Amic. 

His collegiate career did not fail to respond to the high 
hopes expressed in this letter. The young bursar was 
one of the most brilliant and studious scholars of the 
Lycee. The new University* while remaining classic, 
gave, in its curriculum, a large place to history, geogra- 

* Napoleon I. by the decree of March, 17th 1808, established the Univer- 
sity of France a great system of education by the State, embracing Primary 
and University instruction, which still exists in all essential particulars as 
marked out by its founder. " University ," therefore, in France, means the 
whole system of public education. 



6 Life of Thiers. [1809-12. 

phy and the mathematical sciences. Thiers embraced all 
with equal ardor and equal success. 

Thiers says in one of the passages of his Consulate and 
Empire, that there is but one miracle in the world, good 
sense seconded by determined will. He attributes all the 
real success of individuals as well as peoples to the union 
of these two powers. This truth would not have been sug- 
gested to him by the study of history, if he had not 
found it in his own mind and in the history of his own life. 
There are few self-made men who have risen to promi- 
nence, in whom this trait is more distinctly seen, or who 
grasped its meaning at an earlier hour. Someone has re- 
marked that Thiers was inspired by it even in his college 
days, and that ever since it has accompanied him like a 
familar spirit. 

Two particular influences, besides the general influences 
arising from study itself and a classical education, seem 
to have acted strongly on Thiers's mind at the Lycee and 
to have contributed a great deal towards giving it a cer- 
tain direction — that of one of his professors, M. Maillet- 
Lacoste, and that of the military spirit of the first Empire, 
whose victorious bulletins, read aloud in the class-rooms, 
in the dining hall and in the lecture rooms, then formed a 
part of the University programme. 

Maillet-Lacoste, a graduate of the Polytechnic school, 
had had the misfortune to write against the Empire, for 
which reason he was sent in disgrace by M. de Fontanes, 
grand-master of the University, to teach in the Lycee of 



^ T - 12 -^-] Early Life. y 

Marseilles. He had aspired to be an engineer, but was 
forced to be a college professor. A man of refinement 
and lofty sentiments, he soon gained great influence over 
his pupils. Thiers felt himself drawn towards him. The 
young professor was struck by the intelligence of his 
pupil. They frequently walked and conversed together. 
History, politics, art, all topics were discussed on these 
occasions and discussed on an elevated plain. Thiers 
never forgot this early teacher and ever spoke of him 
with respect. 

The greater part of the students of the Lycees of this 
period, dazzled by the glories of the First Empire, had 
their thoughts turned towards a military career. The 
young bursar of Marseilles did not escape the fascina 
tion, and we can imagine the future historian of the Con- 
sulate and Empire, dreaming on the college benches of a 
participation in that military glory which at a later day 
he was to celebrate. In fact, Thiers always had a strong 
taste for military affairs, and gave considerable thought 
to questions of this nature. When the last bill concern 
ing the reorganization of the French army was being 
discussed in the Assembly a few years ago, a witty cari- 
caturist drew a sketch of Thiers astride a drum, in the 
uniform of an enfant de troupe* of 1832, with the words 
"Old Soldier" written under the picture. The artist's 
fancy could have gone back farther into the past, and he 
might have pictured the schoolboy,, in the midst of his 

* An enfant de troupe is a soldier's son brought up in the banacks at 
the expense of the State. 



8 Life of Thiers. [1815. 

games, dressed in the uniform of a pupille de la garde* 
or dreaming in a corner of the study-room of the future 
battles of Marengo or Austerlitz, and of the laurels that 
awaited his prowess. But at the moment when these 
dreams might have become realities, a new order of 
things was instituted which opened another career to his 
talents and offered other hopes to his ambition. 

The Empire fell, and the Charter of Louis XVIII was 
given France, and along with the Charter, enough liberty 
to inspire the hope of being able to gain more. It was 
1815. Thiers was eighteen. He had left the Lycee 
covered with honors, to enter the law school at Aix. 
An aunt and a friend of the family furnished the funds 
that were needed. The young law student, with that 
rapidity of glance and that prompt decision which are 
not the least marked traits of his character, saw in a mo- 
ment that politics was going to supplant arms, and that, 
for him, the forum was to be more important than the 
camp. His course was quickly chosen; politics hence- 
forth became his chief occupation, and, for that matter, 
the chief occupation of the college world. At Aix as 
elsewhere — more than elsewhere perhaps — the new phase 
into which the Revolution entered, now brought face to 
face with its old enemies, was warmly welcomed, and the 
struggle was more intense as the reaction was more 
violent. 

The pupilles de la garde were a body of youth attached to the guard of 
Napoleon I. 



^Et. is.] Early Life. 9 

The young Thiers, who was not, as can be imagined, 
the least ardent, was not slow in taking a prominent 
position among his fellow-students as an advocate of 
liberal principles. Independently of the earnest views 
which sprang in common from the closely united body 
of students, Thiers boldly assumed a more advanced po- 
sition, and charmed his companions by his inexhaustible 
fund of information, by the piquancy of his language 
and by his eloquence, so brilliant, so full of feeling and 
so French. He had also, at this early date, what he 
never failed to have up to the day of his death, numer- 
ous friends and numerous enemies. It was, so to speak, 
the prelude of his after life. And he had intimate friends 
not only within the walls of the law school, but also in 
the city, where his name had caused not a little commo- 
tion. Among his college friends, Mignet, the distin- 
guished historian, should be mentioned particularly, to 
whom he made the first proffer of friendship and with 
whom he was closely united throughout his whole life. 

Aix opened to Thiers a freer, larger and more ani- 
mated field than he had found at Marseilles, and circum- 
stances seemed to conspire to bring into play the most 
striking and original qualities of his mind. Aix was 
a learned city. Besides its law school and its court of 
appeals, it possessed a nobility which contained a great 
number of distinguished men who had a keen relish for 
intellectual subjects. Thiers here found himself in his 
element. Mignet introduced his friend to the most hon- 



10 Life of Thiers. [1816-17. 

orable and enlightened personages of the city. Thiers 
was well received because of his vivacity and his already' 
inexhaustible conversational powers. Some aristocratic 
and even Legitimist families* welcomed him to their 
parlors. They called him the "little Jacobin." but he 
did not hide his opinions. He never "put his flag in his 
pocket," as he has been accused of doing. Royalism was 
powerful at Aix ; Liberalism was only the more ardent 
for this very reason. It dominated on the benches of 
the law school, and Thiers might be called its leader. 
He had founded a club called the Cenacle — a sort of 
debating society, where politics were tabooed. Thiers, 
however, was the first to break over the rule. Politics 
was his passion. He was preparing himself for the 
future. 

To this epoch belongs an episode with which the name 
of M. d 'Arlatan de Lauris, a judge of the court of ap- 
peals and a member of the academy of Aix, is connected. 
Though found in all the biographical notices of Thiers, 
it cannot be omitted here, for, besides its raciness of de- 
tail, it throws the first important light upon his character. 
We refer to his Eulogy on Vauvenargues.\ 

The Academy of Aix had offered a prize for the best 

eulogy on the young moralist, a friend of Voltaire. Vauven- 

argues's touching fate, his sturdy upright character, his 

* The Legitimists are the adherents of the old monarchy, overthrown 
first in 1793 and again in 1830. 

f Vauvenargues. a French moralist born in 1715 at Aix, died in 1747, 
after long suffering from diseases contracted in the army. 



jet. 20-21.] Early Life. i r 

love of glory, that moderate system of philosophy which 
was also Thisrs's, in which thought and action combine and 
balance, the fact, not unimportant to a youth, that he was 
a native of the same province, so captivated his young 
compatriot, that when M. de Lauris, who perceived 
Thiers's abilities and divined his future, advised him to 
compete for the prize, he was only too eager to do so. 

His essay, written in a clear rapid style, where more at- 
tention was paid to the thoughts than to the language, and 
animated by the fire of hopeful youth, was considered ex- 
cellent ; but the name of the author had been divulged, and 
it was not the time nor the country in which justice alone 
was to decide upon merit even in the most harmless 
things. The royalists had a majority in the academy and 
they determined to let the " little Jacobin," know it. 
They did not, however, carry their partiality so far as to 
award the prize to another, but contented themselves 
with adjourning the contest to the next year, hoping to 
have competitors more to their taste. But Thiers, with 
the obstinacy of youth, was resolved to have the prize 
that belonged to him, and since the judges refused to 
give it to him, he determined to snatch it from them. 
He rewrote his eulogy on Vauvenargues and sent it once 
more to the academy. But this time, in order to put 
them on the wrong scent and to outwit their partisan- 
ship, he had the essay forwarded from Paris, through the 
medium of a Parisian friend, whom he had let into the 
secret. He also took good care to hand in his former 



12 Life of Thiers. [1819-20. 

essay without changing it in the slightest particular, ex- 
cept that of the handwriting. The academy fell into the 
trap, adjudged the prize to the essay sent from Paris, and 
made honorable mention of that dated from Aix. It is 
said that the academicians took their discomfiture with 
good grace, while Thiers, besides the joy of a double 
triumph, had also the pleasure of laughing at his judges, 
a pleasure without alloy since he had won his case. 

This eulogy on Vauvenargues, by which Thiers made 
his debut in letters, is- of great importance to the student 
of his character, not simply on account of the little episode 
that it gave rise to, which, characteristic of the man, was 
not much more than a youthful frolic, but more 
particularly on account of the nature of the ideas and the 
way of looking at human destiny therein exposed. The 
youth traces the course he is to pursue in manhood, and 
points out clearly the aim he has in view. Action, ac- 
cording to Thiers, is the object and the province of life. 
"Since man is put on earth to work," he says, "the more 
he does, the more he fulfills his end." There is nothing 
extraordinary in this thought, the contrary being an ab- 
surdity. Its significance lies in the fact that as soon as 
the author sees his object, he disengages it from all the 
systems which might tend to enervate our activity by de- 
claring the supreme reward of all our efforts to be found 
in an obscure and mysterious future. He does not deny 
the truth of these systems, whether religious or philoso- 
phical, but contents himself with not discussing them. He 



jet. 23-24. } Early Life. 13 

has to do with certain, visible, incontestable reality. He 
would ascertain the laws of our being which incite to 
action, and which are summed up in the exercise of our 
energies, and hence it is that he concludes that the aim 
and the reward, that work and pay, are the same thing. 
'■ Life is action," says Thiers, " and whatever the prize 
may be, the employment of our own powers is enough to 
satisfy us because it is the accomplishment of our nature." 
It is under the patronage of Vauvenargues that Thiers 
advances this thought, which is only, in fact, the formula 
of all the philosophy of the eighteenth century. Yet, at 
the same time, it is none the less his own, since this idea 
continually manifested itself during the whole course of 
his life, which was one long labor in a single cause, a con- 
tinual exercise of the most elevated faculties, tending 
always towards some practical end, seeking no other re- 
compense than that which emanated from the struggle, 
the effort and the result. 

In France, politicians rarely rise to prominence in the 
provinces, where superior intellects are often outstripped 
by mediocre ones. Thiers knew this. He was graduated 
from the law school in 1820. In 1821, about the month 
of July, his friend Mignet left Aix for the capital, and in 
less than three months thereafter, Thiers joined him, 
armed with his diploma (of which he was to make no 
use), his courage and great confidence in himself and his 
future. 

This latter sentiment, so powerful a factor in a sue- 



14 -Life of Thiers. ■ [1821-23. 

cessful career, showed itself early in the life of Thiers. 
He was accustomed to remark, in moments of friendly 
communion with Mignet and in conversation with his 

fellow-students, "When we are ministers ." He did 

not hesitate to speak freely on this subject, even in pub- 
lic, and he does not appear to have been always over- 
particular concerning the choice of his confidants. Thiers 
was by nature careless and unreserved. 

There stood at the gate of the law school of Aix, an 
old apple-woman with whom Thiers frequently chatted. 
The poor woman often complained of her lot, while 
the young student, in order to reconcile her to the pres- 
ent, would talk to her of the future, especially of his 
own, and would make fine promises, which, all in fun, he 
would say he hoped might be fulfilled. " I know, my 
good woman, that times are hard," he would remark, 
*' but be patient, they will change. When I am minister, 
I will, of course, have a fine residence, and you will see 
me some day coming in a coach to take you home. 
That will be a gala day for us." 

Thiers, notwithstanding his poverty, did not encounter 
in his early efforts those sore trials which often check 
the advance of the most talented minds. Dr. Johnson's 
famous couplet, 

This mournful truth is everywhere confess'd, 
Slow rises worth by poverty depress'd, 

is not true in Thiers's case. Thiers was, however, in 
straightened circumstances for at least a year and a half 



jet. 24-26.] Early Life. i5 

after coming to Paris. He was at this time closely united 
with the young literary circle that Abel Hugo, brother of 
the poet, had brought together, and which, in summer, on 
Thursdays, used to take dinner at Montrouge, on the 
outskirts of the city, in the saloon kept by mother Saget, 
as the landlady was called. She did not then know what 
a galaxy of future politicians and publicists were her 
patrons. One day in the year 1832, while looking over 
her old account books, she was almost beside herself with 
joy at finding that a haricot de mouton was still unpaid on 
Thiers's bill, and Thiers was a minister ! The minor 
journals of the time recounted the fact with merriment, 
and the old dame all rigged out in her best, called on the 
minister and the little debt was handsomely liquidated. 

He had been recommended to Manuel, one of the 
most popular leaders of the Liberal party, who opened 
to him the doors of journalism. He entered the 
office of the Constitutionnel. The views advocated 
by this newspaper, the most credited of the opposi- 
tion press, accorded with his own. M. Etienne, a 
man of wit and talent, the editor-in-chief of the Constitu- 
tionnel, had a disposition that exactly chimed in with 
that of Thiers's, and they were soon on intimate terms. 
The first article from Thiers's pen produced a favorable 
impression on the managers of the paper, and those that 
followed were eagerly seized and relished by the public. 
One of them in particular, a review of the famous work 



1 6 Life of Thiers. [1821-23. 

of M. de Montlosier on the French monarchy,* created a 
great sensation. His friends, and enemies, too, recog- 
nized in this production the hand of a polemic as well 
as the spirit of a historian and statesman. Thiers was 
not then twenty-five years old. He had arrived in Paris 
in September, 1821. • His article on Montlosier appeared 
in the month of March following. In less than six 
months, he had won a reputation as a journalist, and 
had acquired a position in that Opposition of the Res- 
toration, which, after the death of Louis XVIII, was to 
have such a powerful influence on public opinion, and 
to become so redoubtable an enemy of the monarchy. 
Thiers, though only in his first campaign, might have 
exclaimed with Caesar, vent, vidi, vici. 

This first campaign, furthermore, was marked by other 
successes gained in different fields of literary labor, which 
were not less flattering and brilliant than these journalis- 
tic and political triumphs. Thiers's intellect was as com- 
prehensive as active. He liked to grasp different sub- 
jects and to range over several departments at one time. 
So, while by the superiority of his controversial powers, 
he boldly took possession of the editorial page of the Con- 
st itntionne I, he gave to the same journal remarkable arti- 
cles on art criticism, and shortly afterwards an account 
of an excursion into the Pyrenees. At this same period, 
the busy journalist threw off a curious biographical sketch 
of Miss Bellamy, an actress who figured at Covent-Gar- 

* De la Monarchie fran$aise depuis son e'tablissement jusqiih no s jours. 



Mr. 24-26.] Early Life. 1 7 

den at the close of the last century, and it is found pre- 
served at the beginning of her memoirs. 

The French politician, though distinguished as a jour- 
nalist and orator, still lacks an important factor of suc- 
cess, if he is not an adept in the ways of the political 
salons^ In that society, so intelligent, so elegant in man- 
ners and education, the art of pleasing makes a part of 
the art of governing, and it becomes necessary to con- 
quer the men of the world as well as those of the market- 
place. If this is true even to-day in Democratic France, 
how much more so must it have been under the Restora- 
tion, when the body politic was made up of a select class 
of electors. The Salons were then as important political- 
ly as an American convention : there were made deputies, 
ministers and even revolutions.* 

Though impersonal journalism, by shielding the writer 
and merging his individuality in that of the journal, has 
its advantages, it has its objectionable features also, at 
least for him, since his fame is confined to a narrow cir- 
cle and does not consequently help in his advancement. 
The salons, however, partially do away with this objection. 
The invisible hand which strikes the blow is now recosr- 
nized ; it can be grasped in the evening after the morn- 
ing's combat ; the champions who had just pierced 
through the shield of M. de Villele f with a sharp-pointed 
arrow, or who had thrown down the gauntlet to Prince 

* It has often been said that the Revolution of 1830 started in the draw- 
ing-room of M. Laffitte, the celebrated banker and statesman, 
f Prime Minister from 1821 to 1827. 



1 8 Life of Thiers. [1821-23. 

Polignac,* can now be seen face to face. The leaders are 
distinguished from the confused mass of followers ; they 
leave the ranks and show themselves to the public. 

Thiers aspired to be more than an editor, and he did 
not fail to play this card. At first he was received into 
the salon of M. Laffitte ; and soon afterwards, M. de La 
Rochefoucauld-Liancourt, a distinguished member of one 
of the old aristocratic families of France, M. de Flahaut 
one of Napoleon's officers, Prince Talleyrand and others, 
were glad to welcome the vivacious journalist into their 
polite circles. He everywhere attracted attention by his 
brilliant animation, his wonderful conversational powers, 
so rich in facts and ideas, and by that precocious sagacity 
which enabled him to distinguish the true current of 
events and to divine their earliest tendencies. It was 
this latter faculty in particular that struck Talleyrand, 
who possessing it himself in a high degree, felt its im- 
portance, and knew that without it no one is worthy of 
the name of statesman. A witticism of Talleyrand, that 
has often been cited, shows in what esteem he held 
Thiers, and how well he read his character. It was in 
1827, after the great success of Thiers's History of the 
French Revolution, that some one referring to the author, 
remarked rather contemptuously in the presence of the 
aged diplomatist, " Here's a self-made man." " No, he's 
a made man.'f responded Talleyrand, indicating by this 

* Last Prime Ministet of Charles X. 

f " Le voila parvenu. ' " Non, il est arrive." 



mt. 24-26.] Early Life. 19 

mot, that Thiers belonged to that class of able minds 
which secure distinction without effort, and which proper- 
ly form a part of that aristocracy of intellect to which all 
men may aspire. 

The History of the French Revolution showed what the 
author was capable of, and at the same time, gave him 
great popularity. The work did not, however, reach the 
highest point of its success at its first appearance. The 
first two volumes, which comprise the history of the Con- 
stituent and Legislative Assemblies, appeared in 1823. 
Though spirited and filled with many happily inspired 
pages, they did not make the impression that was ex- 
pected, and the historian fell short of the journalist. The 
work lacked strength. Though experienced beyond his 
years, Thiers did not possess the knowledge nor the 
maturity of judgment that such an undertaking demanded. 
He knew it, and began forthwith to prepare himself for 
the better execution of the remainder of the task. In 
spite of his extraordinary powers of application, he had 
been able only to skim over the special studies which the 
modern historian must be familiar with, in order to pro- 
duce a great and lasting work. He resolved to master 
them, and with this end in view, determined to make 
use of the splendid opportunities that surrounded him. 
He learned finance from Baron Louis, Minister of the 
Finances under Louis XVIII, war from General Foy, who 
served under Napoleon, and from the celebrated military 
writer Jomini, and he consulted Talleyrand more than 



20 Life of Thiers. [1823-27. 

once about foreign politics, and many other contempora- 
ries concerning the events and actors of the great epoch 
which he was to describe. Thiers's historical work is 
faithfully done. He has neglected no source of informa- 
tion, recoiled before no fatigue, and has made every effort 
to get at the truth. Though there are some grave errors 
in the History, he did all he could to avoid them. There 
are numerous proofs of his honesty and carefulness.* 

The success responded to the effort. With the third 
volume the nature of the work changes. It is more sub- 
stantial, more vigorous and more spirited. There is more 
color and force in the style. France could now claim 
one more historical monument, which, though unequal 
and even feeble in some of its parts, did not fall far 
below the subject, nor the impression left by it in the 
minds of men. The ten volumes of the original edition 
of the work appeared during the period extending from 
1823 to 1827, and were issued in parts. A successful sale 
was assured after the publication of the third volume. 
The first edition, however, was not remunerative, and it 
was by the subsequent editions that the author received 
his compensation. 

Few books have made more noise or given rise to more 
discussion than the History of the French Revolution. It 
offended the royalists, who considered it an eloquent re- 
habilitation of the memorable event, even the most hon- 
orable representatives of which, they daily stigmatized ; 

* See Appendix C. 



jet. 26-30.] Early Life. 2 1 

it was a triumph and a hope for the Liberals, who saw 
revived, on a large and brilliant scale, great names which 
had been forgotten or never fully appreciated, and whose 
virtues were easily distinguished from the faults that 
marred them. Everybody considered it a bold act, a 
fearless and superb challenge. Even the historical method 
and the philosophical conception of the work were a 
stimulus to controversy, and a ground for hatred or sym- 
pathy for the author. He was accused of political skep- 
ticism, of historical fatalism, of partiality, of indifference, 
of adoration of force and success ; as if it were sacrificing 
virtue to chance to point out how even the best men are 
liable to errors of judgment; as if it were to be without 
political honesty or deliberate and decided preferences 
to indicate the crimes of liberty or the allurements of 
glory. His friends easily repelled these attacks, and mit- 
igated by increased esteem and sympathy the effects of 
the hatred and injury that his talent and courage had 
called down upon him. 

This immense work, though laborious and absorbing, 
had not completely removed Thiers from militant 
journalism. In truth, it was only an isolated and victor- 
ious campaign, a sort of expedition to Egypt, in the 
great war undertaken against the menacing conduct of 
the old monarchy. He had not, for an instant, deserted 
his post on the Constitutionnel. He had even performed 
other tasks. In 1823 he was associated with Remusat, 
the politician and writer, and Jouffroy, the well-known 



22 Life of Thiers. [1823-29. 

philosopher, on the Tablettes Historiques, a periodical 
publication. Thiers wrote the articles that appeared 
under the head of Political Bulletin. They were filled 
with the most caustic irony, tempered by exquisite French 
urbanity. A good critic of the period said that these arti- 
cles were superior to anything that had appeared in the 
political press for a long time, and that he was certain 
that he recognized in them the stamp of a courtier of the 
old regime. He was astonished when told that they were 
written by a young man of twenty-five. 

In 1824, together with Jouffroy and Mignet, he wrote 
for the Globe newspaper; in 1826, he contributed to 
the Encyclopedie Progressive ; and in 1828 he published 
a book on John Law* and his system, in which he laid 
down the principles of credit and explained the func- 
tions of banks in his usual clear way, and with an ability 
which, considering the absence of special preparation, is 
remarkable. 

But all this was not enough to satisfy Thiers's indefat- 
igable activity and that desire for perpetual movement 
which is the foundation of his nature. After the History 
of the French Revolution, he wished to write a work on 
general history. He was contemplating a journey through 
Europe in order to collect data for this purpose, when it 
was announced that Laplace was preparing for his great 
voyage around the world. Curiosity immediately turned 

* John Law, the Scotchman, who introduced into France, in the first 
quarter of the last century, a disastrous system of finance, based on paper 
money. 



alt. 26-32.] Early Life. 23 

Thiers in this direction. Besides the scientific interest 
attached to such an enterprise, there was that about it 
to tempt a sturdy, adventurous mind, eager for new im- 
pressions and discoveries which might tend to increase 
his reputation. He therefore took the steps necessary 
to become a member of the expedition, and was ready 
to embark when a political event, long foreseen, but 
not considered imminent, abruptly changed his plans. 

On August 8th, 1829, the Polignac ministry was formed. 
The Martignac ministry, which it succeeded, had been 
only a truce ; open war was declared against the princi- 
ples of the French Revolution. It was no time to desert 
the field of battle. Thiers remained. Long armed for 
the final struggle, he determined to throw himself into 
it, body and soul, and to wage an uncompromising war- 
fare on this counter-revolution which the Restoration 
had inaugurated. 

But before entering upon an account of the new career 
which the revolution of 1830 opened to him, we desire 
to say a word concerning the man himself, and to dis- 
creetly unveil a portion of his private life. 

It is difficult to imagine how a romance could insinu- 
ate itself into the busy youth of Thiers. But Thiers 
always had time for everything. He had time for friend- 
ship, and he found leisure more than once for love. 

His first passion dates from the law school of Aix, a 
passion which, romantic in its beginning, came near being 
tragic in its end. The young lady who captivated Thiers 



24 Life of Thiers. [1821-22. 

was beautiful and was endowed with all the moral quali- 
ties that could have been desired. He fell seriously in 
love with her, and was soon engaged. But she was 
poor ; Thiers himself was far from being rich, and al- 
though he did not doubt of being so some day, still he 
did not wish to inflict upon her all the trials and hazards 
of a struggle for competence. It was agreed that the 
marriage should be put off until better days began for 
Thiers. He then left for Paris. 

If a contemporary report can be believed, Thiers said, 
one day, during the July monarchy, apropos of the un- 
successful efforts of the Duke of Orleans, eldest son of 
Louis-Philippe, to obtain a wife from some one of the 
royal families of Europe, " Parvenus ought to marry late." 
Did this remark, so pointed in its application and which 
would have come with better grace from Berryer,* eman- 
ate from Thiers's recollection of his own conduct in this 
matter of matrimony? Should we look for the cause of 
the non-fulfillment of the vows of a young and inexperi- 
enced lover, in his own belief in this ambitious and selfish 
maxim ? However this may be, the father and his 
daughter having occasion to go to Paris after Thiers's 
departure, saw him and demanded that the marriage be 
consummated. Thiers was rising fast at the capital, as 
has been seen, but he was not yet firmly established, and, 

* M. Berryer, (i 790-1 869), the eloquent advocate and statesman, was the 
leader of the friends of the Elder House of Bourbon in the Chamber of 
Deputies, and was, consequently, opposed to the Younger Branch of which 
Louis-Philippe was the head. 



Mr. 24-25. j Early Life. 2 5 

consequently was not in a condition to marry. He asked 
for a year's delay. At the end of this time he requested 
a second postponement. But the father would not grant 
it ; became angry; considered the excuses evasions; flew 
into a passion ; and the interview was terminated by a 
challenge to a duel. The challenge was accepted. The 
father's second was Alphonse Rabbe, a well-known 
journalist and author of the time, who afterwards related 
the episode ; Thiers's seconds were Mignet and Manuel. 
The weapons were pistols. The father being the injured 
party, fired first. He took good aim, and, if it had not 
been for a slight sinking of his arm, occasioned by a false 
movement of the body, his adversary would have been hit. 
The ball, however, passed between Thiers's legs. As for 
the latter, he did not raise his weapon, for, on accepting 
the challenge, he had decided in his own mind not to re- 
turn the fire. After having bravely sustained the first 
shot, he said he was ready to receive the second, but the 
duel ended here. Several years later, however, after the 
revolution of 1830, when Thiers had risen to power, and 
was a minister, he is said to have provided good positions 
in the Department of Finance, for the father and the 
young lady's brother.* 

* This same episode was related somewhat differently in an article pub- 
lished since Thiers's death in the Paris Figaro, from the pen of M. Aurelien 
Scholl, an able journalist ; but the account given in the text can be de- 
pended upon for correctness. 



CHAPTER II. 

THE REVOLUTION OF JULY. 

The Revolution of July, 1830, is an important date to 
us, because it marks a new era in Thiers's life. He is now 
arrived at maturity. The journalist, the writer, and the 
historian is about to enter a new field, to play a new 
part. One monarchy has fallen and another is raised on 
its ruins. Thiers, who contributed more than anybody 
else towards the overthrow of Charles X, on the advent 
of Louis-Philippe, passes from the Opposition to the 
party in power. Will he be worthy of his younger days in 
this new sphere of action ? Will he be faithful to his early 
principles ? Will he labor for the same cause ? These 
important questions will be answered, we think, in the 
following rapid exposition of this period of his life, so 
rich in facts and in results that still endure. His in- 
dividuality, however considerable, could be lost sight of 
without detracting interest from the events, in which 
France stands personified and which possess a grandeur 
of their own ; but these events might be more clearly pre- 
sented, if grouped around one of the principle actors in 
the drama, and if reflected in the part which he played. 
Could the Charter of 18 14, a compromise between the 



^et. 32] The Revolution of yuly. 2 J 

dynasty of the Bourbons and the French Revolution, 
imposed upon France by victorious Europe, and upon 
the Bourbons by the nature of things, have long en- 
dured ? This is a debatable question. But the fact 
was settled without peradventure by the revolution of 
1830, that Charles X could not with impunity violate the 
compact. In setting at defiance, the principles of the 
French Revolution, the dynasty engaged in an unequal 
contest. The Revolution, the inevitable result of centur- 
ies of preparation, had put a period to an extinct society. 
The work had since been checked, thwarted and retarded. 
Bonaparte had done it by gaining battles, those who fol- 
lowed him, in a less degree, by prudence and ability. But 
to attempt it with a high hand, without popularity, with- 
out prestige, and with an army still cherishing the memo- 
ries of triumphs with which the Bourbons had scarcely 
anything to do, was pure folly. Everybody saw this, so 
that when the feeble Charles X actually dared the 
Chamber of Deputies, the representatives of France, and 
made Prince Polignac Prime Minister, there was not a 
politician of so little foresight, as not to predict the ap- 
proaching destruction of the dynasty. " Unfortunate 
France! Unfortunate King ! " cried the * Journal des 

* This journal — the London Times of Paris — which will be frequently 
quoted in the course of this book, is on the whole the best representative of 
French journalism. It traces its origin to the month of August, 17S9. The 
celebrated French journalistic family, the Bertins, acquired possession of the 
journal in 1799, and under their management, which lasted for two genera- 
tions, it took a high stand — which it has ever since retained — as a literary 
and political newspaper. Napoleon I himself wrote for its columns dur- 
ing the empire. Among its galaxy of distinguished writers, may be men- 



28 Life of Thiers. [^29. 

Debats. Talleyrand repeated to those who would listen to 
him his celebrated prophecy, first uttered at the time of the 
retreat from Moscow, " It is the beginning of the end." 
Thiers did better ; he labored with renewed ardor, and 
with an audacity which nothing but respect for the law 
could arrest, to verify the prediction. 

The enemies of Thiers, long before and since his death, 
have been pleased to call him a politician who could not 
be trusted, who had no principles, who would yield to 
circumstances, and change with events, a sort of Machia- 
velli, whose motto, formally applied to Talleyrand, should 
have been the famous verse of Horace, 

Et mihi res, non me rebus subjungere conot* 

Such will not be the judgment of history. Revolutions 
have surged around Thiers, and in whirling him about in 
their vortices, have often changed his position ; but he 
has never been shaken in his principles and aims. He 
who does not see this, is determined not to look beneath 
the surface, to confound the changing form of things with 
the things themselves. The adversaries of Thiers thus 
sum up his history : He opposed the monarchy of the 
Restoration, and that monarchy overturned, he raised up 
and served another monarchy ; then, he combated this new 
monarchy, helped to undermine it, and when it fell, de- 

tioned, Chateaubriand, Nodier, de Sacy, Saint-Marc Girardin, and, at a 
later date, Jules Janin, Renan, and Michel Che vallier. Cuvillier-Fleury, (who 
will be frequently referred to in these pages,) and John Lemoinne, both 
members of the French Academy, contribute to-day to its columns. The 
political policy of the Debats from its origin maybe summed up in the words, 
liberal conservatism. To-day it is conservative republican. 

*Ep. I, 1, [9. " the world's for me, not I for it." — Conington. 



^t. 32.] The Revolution of jfuly. 29 

clared war against the republic that followed it, until the 
republic gave way to the empire ; then, in fine, after a 
long series of events, the republic having again appeared, 
he welcomed it, served it, defended it, and was about to 
continue to defend it, serve it, and perhaps even again to 
preside over its destinies, when he was surprised by 
death. And then, they cry, what inconsistency, what 
vacillation, yea, what apostacy ! But nothing is more 
superficial, more puerile and more false than this summary 
way of judging things. To properly understand the long 
life of Thiers, it should be likened to the voyage of a ship 
on the Atlantic, which must regard the currents that beset 
it, the changing winds, the flow and ebb of the. tides, and 
the raging tempests, but which ever steers towards its 
destined harbor ; or, to use a comparison more suited to 
Thiers's military turn of mind, his life was like a campaign 
where the plan of battle is more than once modified to 
meet the requirements of the action, to accomodate itself 
to unforeseen contingencies and to the rules of strategy 
and tactics. Thiers never served but one cause, the 
French Revolution, and he served it only in a legal man- 
ner. Therein is seen the salient feature of his political 
character. Whether acting with the party in power or 
the party out of power, he defended the Revolution ; he 
attacked only its enemies, and he always found his means 
of offence and defense within the pale of the law. When 
he participated in a revolution or applauded others for 
doing so, he never scouted the law, as was shown by his 



30 Life of Thiers. [ l83a 

conduct in the revolution of 1830, and in that of Septem- 
ber 4th, 1870, when Napoleon III was dethroned. This 
made him many enemies even in the most opposite parties; 
for a political foe knows that moderation, which is rarely- 
excused in politics, is the most powerful arm that the 
adversary can use ; and friends too often take for weakness, 
what is in reality superiority of judgment and character. 

On January 3d, 1830, when all France was in a state of 
political fermentation consequent upon the unpopularity 
of the Polignac ministry, and when the immediate future 
was threatening and uncertain, Thiers founded the 
National. He was well situated on the Const it utionnel, 
in which he was now pecuniarily interested and where his 
remarkable talent gave him immense influence. But his 
ideas of the demands of the hour, which seemed to him 
to call for the ardent and vigorous treatment breathed by 
public opinion and his own soul, alarmed his colleagues 
whose interests he did not wish to compromise. He de- 
sired also a personal organ in which to carry on the com- 
bat at his own risk and peril. Thiers liked responsibility; 
he took pleasure in it. This peculiarity of his nature will 
often appear in the course of his career. He knew that 
in this way talent secured the position belonging to it, 
especially in times of agitation and in free countries. He 
associated with him in this new enterprise, his friend 
Mignet, and afterwards Armand Carrel, one of the most 
distinguished and ablest intellects of the period — the 
Junius of the French press, as the critic Sainte-Beuve 



Mt. 33.] The Revolution of July. 31 

called him. Thus was started this liberal newspaper, 
which was destined to take an active part in producing 
two revolutions : one, that of 1830, with Thiers, the other, 
that of 1848, against Thiers, or at least against the Orleans 
monarchy, which he had helped to establish. 

It has been said, in speaking of the political opinions of 
the National, that it desired the same thing as the Globe* 
namely, a constitutional monarchy, but that the former 
sought it in a revolutionary manner. This is far from true. 
The principles of the National, no more differed from those 
of the Globe in their application than in their nature, the 
former were no more revolutionary than the latter. Both 
journals stood on the same foundation, the Charter; they 
had to do with the same enemy ; they had the same ob- 
ject in view ; there was scarcely any difference even in 
their tactics and manoeuvres. Thiers, however, was at 
the head of a division which was more alert and bold. 
" It is enough," he said, one day, " to drive the Bourbons 
into the Charter and shut the door on them ; they will- 
jump out of the windows," and the whole political aim of 
the National was to shut up the Bourbons and to induce 
France to do the same thing, at the risk of forcing 
the King to break the panes and leap out of the window. 
Can this be called revolutionary ? Charles X was incor- 
rigible ; he was, furthermore, in the hands of those who 

* The Globe was founded in 1824, and for five years was devoted exclusive- 
ly to philosophic and literary questions. Among its writers at this period was 
Jouffroy, the philosopher. In 1830 it entered the field of politics, as an advo- 
cate of liberal conservatism, but left politics after the revolution and soon 
disappeared. 



32 Life of Thiers. [,8 3 o. 

do not let their prey escape, the Jesuits, who have so well 
described themselves in the words of the democratic 
poet, Beranger: 

Half fox, half wolf, 
Our order is a mystery.* 

The Martignac ministry, so moderate and so devoted 
to the old monarchy, had clearly shown by its fall that 
the Bourbons were not to be depended upon. It had 
settled down to a struggle between the old and the new 
ideas. A coup d'etat was evidently at hand, and it began 
to be felt that the counter-action would be a revolution. 
What was to be done ? Should pacific protestations be 
made and the throne be humbly requested to be wise and 
reasonable? It would have been foolish and almost 
criminal to try, after what had already been experienced, 
to change the mind of the blinded King. The only thing 
to be done was to press him into narrow legal limits where 
he would be forced to capitulate — which seemed less 
probable every day — or to make a disastrous sortie. This 
is all the National of Thiers and Armand Carrel advo- 
cated. 

The National marked out its line of conduct in the 
earliest numbers of the paper. Thiers, in an article on 
the Charter, stated its principles and pointed out the 
liberties that it guaranteed. He demanded that these 
liberties be respected, that the stipulations of the Char- 

* Moitie renards, moitie loups, 
Notre regie est vtn mystere. 

Les Reverends Peres. 



jet. 33.] The Revolution of yuly. 33 

ter be carried out, and declared that herein lay the only 
security for the present and the future. But it seemed 
idle to him to limit his efforts to a declaration to which 
the government would pay no attention. The govern- 
ment had thrown down the gauntlet to the nation, the 
nation had picked it up, and it was now necessary that 
the latter show the former what means of defense it had. 
On January 5th, 1830, appeared an article which created a 
great sensation. In it Thiers called the attention of the 
deputies to the weapon with which the Constitution had 
armed them, by according to the Chamber the right to vote 
the budget, and then, going a step further, he explained the 
difference between a refusal to vote taxes and a refusal to 
vote appropriations. " The first," he said, " is a right 
which pertains to the nation and which it alone can exer- 
cise ; the other pertains to the Chamber." The ministry 
was thus apprized that the most serious trouble might 
result from the course it was pursuing. 

To Charles X and the Jesuitical circle that ruled him 
there seemed to be these alternatives : either royalty 
must impose its will upon the country, or the country 
would impose its will upon royalty. This was the pith 
of the situation. Though simple, it was important to find 
a watchword which all could understand, at which no one 
would be alarmed, and which, at the same time, should be 
firm and decisive. Thiers succeeded in meeting these re- 
quirements when he said, " the King reigns but does not 
govern." The formula was admirable, bold but.not revolu- 



34 Life of Thiers. \i^o. 

tionary. It was the theory of constitutional monarchy 
epitomized. It showed on what conditions France would 
accept royalty. The dynasty was not excluded, it was 
only subordinated to the nation. True, the Bourbons 
were driven into a corner and belittled by the maxim, 
but it was because they would be absolute. Thiers could 
not be blamed for this. 

The whole policy of the National is embraced in this cele- 
brated phrase, and its arguments are summed up in the 
article in which the author develops it. Thiers would 
establish two propositions : in the first place, that royal- 
ty, as conceived by himself and as intended by the Char- 
ter, is not to be despised ; and, secondly, that France so 
earnestly desires to govern herself, that, if she cannot do 
so with royalty, she will seek another form of government. 

On the second point, he used these remarkable words : 
" France wishes to govern herself because she is able to. 
Will this be called a republican spirit? So much the 
worse for those who like to get frightened at words. This 
spirit, republican if you like, exists, crops out everywhere, 
and cannot be repressed. There are two forms of gov- 
ernment which will satisfy this spirit, the English and the 
American. Here are the two ways of arriving at the 
same end. Many bold and vigorous minds prefer the 
second. But the body of the nation has a vague fear of 
the agitation of a republic. We ought to rejoice at this 
disposition which, unsteady and frequently attacked, 
needs support. There is but one way to give it support, 



Mr. 33.] The Revolution of July. 35 

and that is, to prove that the monarchical form of govern- 
ment offers sufficient liberty, and, that under it the coun- 
try can realize its wish and govern itself. In the present 
agitated state of men's minds, if the people are not con- 
vinced of this, they will begin to look outside of mon- 
archy for the consummation of their hopes, and will not 
be satisfied even with what is found across the Atlantic." 
On more than one occasion since the beginning of the 
year 1830, Thiers's theory and his judgment concerning 
the spirit and disposition of France, have been shown to 
be correct. 

The Chamber elected in June, 1830, was stronger in 
Opposition members than the one that had been dissolved. 
It is now a well established fact that Charles and his min- 
isters had decided in May to have recourse to a coup d'etat 
if the elections went against them. The celebrated or- 
dinances* were consequently forthcoming. On Sunday, 
July 25th, 1830, on leaving the chapel of St. Cloud, where 
he had been to hear mass, the King signed these repressive 
decrees. On the evening of the next day, they appeared 
in the official Moniteur, and three days thereafter the 
Restoration was at an end. 

Thiers had expected the coup d'etat and was prepared 
for it. He had already decided upon the course he should 
follow. As soon as he read the Moniteur, he called to- 
gether his friends and the principal writers on the National. 

* They were five in number, the first two being the most important, since 
they suspended the liberty of the press and dissolved the Chamber elect. 



36 Life of Thiers. g u i y l830 . 

The office of the journal became a headquarters of informa- 
tion and action. It was decided to resist, but there was dif- 
ference of opinion concerning the means to be employed. 
The majority favored separate protests, in which each 
individual should express his own peculiar views on the 
question. Thiers thought this a bad plan, for it divided 
their forces instead of uniting them, as the gravity of the 
situation demanded. He spoke at length against the 
dominant opinion. M. de Remusat, the liberal pub- 
licist, entered while Thiers was trying to bring his 
friends over to his way of thinking. " We must refuse to 
submit to the ordinances," he said, addressing his words 
to Remusat ; " but articles, however well written or how- 
ever bold, will do no good. There must be a manifesto 
formally setting forth our refusal to obey. It should be 
an example for the people to imitate. It should be com- 
mon to all and binding on all who wish to protest like 
ourselves." His opinion prevailed. A document was 
drawn up by Thiers. Some one having requested that it 
be given a collective or rather impersonal character, Thiers 
interposed again : " Names are necessary ; we must risk 
our heads." And, then, with him, Mignet, and Car- 
rel, of the National, representatives of the Figaro, Temps, 
Globe, Constitutional, etc., signed the protest. No less 
than eight members of the editorial staff of the National, 
more than twice as many as of any other journal, affixed 
their names. 

The Charter, argues Thiers in this famous document, 



/et. 33.] The Revolution of yuly. 37 

calls upon Frenchmen to obey its articles, not regal ordi- 
nances. The Crown itself has heretofore recognised the 
authority of the articles. Whenever a modification of the 
existing laws has been desired, the Crown has had recourse 
to the Chambers, not to ordinances. The highest courts 
of France have pronounced favorably upon the constitu- 
tionality of the Charter, and against the constitutionality 
of ordinances. Since, therefore, the government has 
violated the law, Frenchman are not bound to obey the 
government. Legal authority is at an end, that of force 
is begun. As the writers of the press will be the first to 
suffer, they should be the first to protest, and the first to 
set an example of resistance to their fellow citizens* 
They are determined, therefore, to attempt the publica- 
tion of their journals without obtaining the permission 
imposed by the ordinances. In closing, the journalists 
call upon the deputies elect, to stand by their rights. 
The Charter gives the King the power to dissolve the 
Chamber after it has convened, but, as the new Chamber 
has not yet met, it cannot be dissolved, and it, therefore, 
still exists, the legal representative of France and the 
Charter. Such is the spirit of the protest of the journalists. 
The publication of the ordinances and of this protest 
that they called forth, produced a profound sensation in 
Paris, and throughout the whole of France. On Tuesday, 
July 27th, the people of the capital began to show signs of 
revolt, and it became evident that the contest was to be 
decided in the streets in the form of an insurrection. 



38 Life of Thiers. [July 1830. 

Nothing in Thiers's whole career reflects more credit 
upon him, than the attitude he assumed and the part he 
played, in these memorable events. It has often been 
said that Thiers, as soon as there was a resort to arms, 
retired to Montmorency, near Paris, where he remained 
during the three days of fighting, July 27th, 28th, and 
29th, and that he did not again appear on the scene until 
the afternoon of the 29th, when the insurrection was 
known to have succeeded.* This is not true. 

On the morning of the 27th, a large number of electors 
assembled at the office of the National, on the invitation 
of Thiers. The first topic discussed was the public ex- 
pression of their opinion on the crisis, and the way to ren- 
der such expression as impressive as possible. Thiers 
advised that the co-operation of the deputies then at 
Paris be made sure of, and that they be pressed to sign 
an energetic protest similar to that drawn up at the 
office of the National. The question of recourse to arms 
then came up. The opinion advanced by one of those 
present, that " all our enemies, both King and gendarmes," 
should be placed without the pale of the law, was not 
ill received by Thiers. A legitimate defence of their 
rights seemed to him perfectly proper. He hesitated, 
however, at the thought of the misery that would be 
occasioned by an unequal contest between an unarmed 
multitude and regular troops. But the insurrection once 
under way, and there being no longer any doubt of its 

* See the Pays of September 5th, 1877. 



je t . 33.] The Revolution of yuly. 39 

assuming serious proportions, he did not shrink from 
putting himself in communication with its friends in 
order to do what he could to direct it. Another meeting 
for the consideration of this same subject, was held in 
the rue St. Honore, at the house of M. Cadet-Gassicourt, 
who though a pharmacist by profession, was an active 
liberal politican. Firing was heard in the immediate 
neighborhood. A barricade had been thrown up near the 
Theatre Francaisand cavalrymen with drawn sabres were 
charging upon the redoubt of the people. At this moment, 
Thiers left the house of meeting, and, placed between two 
fires, extricated himself from the danger with the greatest 
difficulty, though many passers-by were wounded. He 
immediately repaired to the office of the National, to per- 
form the duties that circumstances should impose. 

The night of the 27th was sinister. Paris was trem- 
bling. The streets were silent and the city seemed de- 
serted. Thiers passed the night at the office of his jour- 
nal, writing and supervising the publication of the next 
day's immense edition. Far from thinking of how to 
escape the peril of the situation, he printed in this num- 
ber a call to arms, which, if the insurrection had failed, 
would have compromised him not only for the present 
but also for the future. But the revolt grew stronger 
every hour. During all the following day, the 28th, vis- 
itors poured into the office of the National, some seek- 
ing, others bringing news. Many were nervous, many 
alarmed. Thiers reassured all by the serenity of his 



40 Life of Thiers. [j u i y 1830. 

countenance and the firmness of his language and atti- 
tude. In the evening, about nine o'clock, apprised that 
a warrant for his arrest had been issued, and prevailed 
upon by his friends to avoid a danger which nothing 
required him to encounter, and which, as the struggle 
was still undecided, certainly existed, he left Paris 
and passed the night at the house of a friend in the en- 
virons of Saint-Denis, a short distance from Paris. A 
few hours afterwards, informed by a domestic who had 
been left at the capital, that the insurrection was victori- 
ous, he immediately returned to the city, and at an early 
hour on the 29th was found at the office of his newspa- 
per, deliberating with his friends on the new situation. 

The question that offered itself for solution was sim- 
ple, but momentous. It is not less difficult to make 
governments than to destroy them. Three ways out of 
the difficulty lay open to the men who had brought 
about the revolution of 1830: — 1. To maintain the de- 
feated monarchy on condition that henceforth it would 
honestly accept the results of the French Revolution. 
2. To establish a constitutional monarchy, by placing 
on the throne Louis-Philippe, the head of the younger 
branch of the Bourbons, who was known to hold liberal 
opinions. 3. To proclaim the republic. 

To understand the situation, and the reasons that in- 
fluenced Thiers in favor of a constitutional monarchy 
under the House of Orleans, it is necessary to enter into 
the spirit of France at this epoch, to know the thoughts 



■Mt. 33.] The Revolution of yuly. 41 

of the people, to weigh the effect of the struggle in the 
streets of Paris on the imaginations of men and on the 
state of parties, and to discover how far it excited pas- 
sions or alarmed interests. This shall be done briefly. 

The struggle had an immediate and powerful influence 
on the French mind. We need not speak of Auguste Bar- 
bier's Iambes* nor of Casimir Delavigne's hymn of La 
Parisienne.\ The spontaneity of the movement, the ardor 
of the combatants during the contest, the discretion of 
the victors, were subjects of admiration even among the 
Royalists4 From this same event dates Victor Hugo's 
renunciation of the belief of his childhood. Though he 
had always accepted the spirit of the Revolution, which 
was as innate in him as his genius, but which youth and 
the social atmosphere that he breathed had smothered, 
he now first joined hands with the men of liberal princi- 
ples, and entered heartily into the work which was to 
install and organize the Revolution. The people, too, 
caught the fire that inflamed the minds of the intelligent. 
With the exception of portions of the west and south, 
the heart of all France beat with that of Paris. 

The hatred of the Bourbons in France ante-dated the 

* Auguste Barbier, the satiric poet, was born in 1815, and is still living, 
(1878). In the Iambes, — a series of satires — the poet attacks both the politi- 
cal and social corruption of the epoch. 

f Delavigne, (1 793-1843), the poet and dramatist, was hand and glove with 
the Liberals of the Restoration. La Paiisienne, which has been called the 
Marseillaise of the revolution of 1830, had but an ephemeral popularity. 

\ Chateaubriand, an earnest friend of the Bourbons, delivered an ora- 
tion in the Chamber of Peers a few days after the conflict, in which he 
highly eulogized the conduct of the people of Paris. 



42 Life of Thiers. \\%y>. 

revolution of 1830. It began in 1789; it was renewed 
in 1 8 14, after the disasters with which their names were 
associated. Regard for the Revolution and national 
pride both conspired against them. The folly of the 
ordinances, the blood that had just been spilt widened 
the chasm. It was useless, therefore, to think of raising 
the fallen dynasty, even if the old King or his young 
heir* should have consented to become what has since 
been termed "the king of the Revolution." In the Lib- 
eral party, Royer-Collard, f Villemain %. and Casimir Pe- 
rier himself — to whom we will have occasion to refer 
hereafter — regretted it deeply. But the necessity of 
conforming to the political belief, or rather the political 
belief imposed by necessity, was too powerful to admit 
of such a course. 

There remain for consideration the alternatives of a 
constitutional monarchy under the House of Orleans or 
a republic. The Empire was not then a factor in French 
politics, since the heir of Napoleon was, with his mother, 
in the power of Austria. 

The Republic was backed by an able body of talented 
men, such as Armand Carrel, Godefroy Cavaignac, § Ar- 

* Charles X abdicated August 2nd, 1830, in favor of his grandson, the 
present Count de Chambord. 

f Royer-Collard, (1763-1845), statesman, orator, professor of philosophy at 
the Sorbonne — the Paris university. He was the master of Cousin and Jouffroy. 
In politics he was a moderate liberal and founder of Doctrinarianism. 

\ Villemain, (1790-1867), famous critic and professor of French eloquence 
at the Sorbonne, 

§ Godefroy Cavaignac, (1801-1835), politician and litterateur, was the oldest 
son of a member of the Convention, and brother of General Cavaignac, who 
took such a prominent part in the revolution of 1848. 



jet. 33 .] The Revolution of jfuly. 43 

mand Marrast, * Colonel Charras, f etc., who were after- 
wards reinforced by men like Ledru-Rollin, % Michel de 
Bourges, § Garnier-Pages, || etc. It had the prestige of the 
principle of the sovereignty of the people, the shadow of 
universal suffrage, logically associated with the doctrines 
of 1789, the glorious souvenirs of the victories of the 
Revolution, its conquests preserved by it but lost by the 
Empire. It was, finally, the form of government pre- 
ferred by the most virile part of the population of Paris 
and of some of the other large cities, particularly Lyons. 
But all this was outweighed by a thousand misconceptions, 
by a thousand prejudices, by the bitter hatred of its ene- 
mies. The spectre of the Reign of Terror, kept alive by a 
sort of idolatry, — if this word can be applied to animosity 
— was ever opposed to the memory of great deeds, ever 
invoked in the tribune, in the journals and even in the 
pulpit, and, in the rural districts, it was a veritable bugbear. 
Besides, the Republic implied, demanded universal suf- 
frage, which, in the then state of the French mind, might 
have been turned against republicanism, and even have 

*Armand Marrast, (1801-1852), publicist and journalist, imprisoned in 
1834, because of his political opinions ; member of the Provisional Govern- 
ment in 1848; deputy and president of the Assembly at this same epoch, and 
editor-in-chief of the National. 

\ Colonel Charras, (/810-1865), soldier, historian, and politician ; deputy 
during the Republic of 1848, and exded on the advent of the second Empire. 

% Ledru-Rollin, (1807-1874), celebrated publicist, politician, and advocate ; 
member of the Provisional Government of 1848, and deputy ; exiled by 
Napoleon III ; deputy after the overthrow of the Empire. 

§ Michel de Bourges, (1798-1853,) distinguished advocate and politician ; 
deputy in 1837 and in 1849. 

fl Garnier-Pages, (1803-1878), historian and politician ; deputy in 1842 ; 
member of the Provisional Government and deputy in 1P48 ; deputy in 1S64. 



44 Life of Thiers. \\^o. 

delivered it over to its worst enemies, the clergy ; for 
the cause of the clergy was wrapt up in that of the 
regime which had just been ended. The church sympa- 
thized and co-operated with the Bourbons, and it was 
the church which forced the court into its last fatal con- 
flict. To neutralize the evils of universal suffrage in the 
rural districts, it would have been necessary for the 
whole body of the middle classes to be free from the 
prejudices that prevailed there. But unfortunately this 
was not the case. The middle classes were also divided 
in their opinions concerning the Republic. From another 
point of view, the Republic might again raise up a barrier 
between France and the other states of Europe. It 
would be looked upon as a revenge for the disasters of 
1 815, a renewal of revolutionary propagandism. The 
change from absolute monarchies to liberal monarchies 
which has since taken place, that whole transformation 
of Europe so well stated in Thiers's political testament,* 
had not then been brought about. The hostilities of 
the Holy Alliance — Russia, Austria and Prussia — were 
to be feared, as well as its prejudices. This prospect 
alienated from republicanism many in all classes of so- 
ciety. 

The only possible government in the eyes of real states- 
men was a Constitutional Monarchy under the House of 
Orleans. It was trusted by those who feared the Repub- 

*This remarkable document — the last thing Thiers wrote — is given in 
Appendix D. 



^Et. 33.] The Revolution of yuly. 45 

lie; and it satisfied the liberals, since the younger branch 
could reign only by accepting the Charter, for the viola- 
tion of which the elder branch had been expelled. If it 
was opposed by the legitimists — the followers of the 
elder branch, who could not forgive the Orleanists for 
supplanting their own natural representative, and who 
considered them disgraced by becoming the royalty of 
the Revolution — it was supported, on the other hand, by 
all the foes of legitimacy, that is to say, by the majority 
of the nation. And finally, the republican party, al- 
though it would be an embarrassment, would not be 
strong enough to materially check the government if it 
were wise and remained faithful to its principles. 

This was the way Thiers looked at the crisis, on which 
he brought to bear that power of penetration, that sort 
of political scent — his greatest gift, perhaps, — which en- 
abled him to follow the course of public opinion as if it 
were a trail, and to see clearly, in a given situation, what 
ought to be done, and what could not be substituted for 
it with impunity. Talleyrand took the same view of the 
question as Thiers. Both worked, doubtless in concert, 
to make a constitutional king by addressing themselves 
to the only man possible for such a position at that time, 
Louis-Philippe, Duke of Orleans. Talleyrand, as was his 
way, kept himself hidden in his house at Paris, while, by 
means of a confidential secretary, he carried on communi- 
cations with Neuilly, just outside of the walls of Paris, 



46 Life of Thiers. [1S30. 

where the duke resided. Thiers, on the other hand, 
less prudent and less concerned about himself, acted 
in person. Both conducted themselves characteristi- 
cally. 

The partisans of the Orleans family said in 1871, when 
Thiers refused to aid in the restoration of the monarchy 
of 1830, that he showed himself ungrateful towards the 
King whom he had served. This was reversing the roles 
in a singular manner. If, in affairs of this kind, there 
can be any such thing as gratitude or ingratitude, it was 
not Thiers who was the ungrateful party. No one did 
more than he to elevate the monarch who ruled in 
France from August, 1830, to February, 1848, for no 
one did more to remove the objections to him enter- 
tained by the two factions of the victors. On the one 
hand, he combated the views of those who favored a 
compromise with Charles X, and on the other hand, he 
opposed the efforts of those who would have the Repub- 
lic forthwith. 

On the return of Thiers from St. Denis, the National 
printed a short but clear article in favor of the Duke of 
Orleans. Worked off by the thousands, the paper was 
scattered all over Paris and produced a marked impres- 
sion, which was generally favorable to the proposition. 
Already cries of " Long live the Duke of Orleans " were 
heard. In the evening, a large number of deputies, jour- 
nalists and politicians met in the parlors of M. Laffitte. 



jet. 33.] The Revolution of July. 47 

Thiers was present. Two envoys from Charles X ar- 
rived, bearing proposals of accomodation. The assem- 
blage seemed disposed to listen to them. Thiers op- 
posed this with all his force in a vigorous speech, in 
which he showed that it was out of the question to patch 
up a compromise with Charles ; that Europe did not ex- 
pect it, that the people would not listen to it ; that it 
was their bounden duty to return answer to the deposed 
monarch, that he must depart from French soil as quickly 
as possible, and that not until it was known that he was 
making sail for England, and that at least the breadth 
of the Channel lay between him and France, could the 
present leaders hope to be masters of the situation. 
This sensible and fervent appeal carried the day, and 
the advances of the King were repelled. 

But it was not so easy to master the republicans who 
held the streets, and who could not understand how so 
important a question as the establishment of a new 
government could be settled in a manner apparently so 
thoughtless. To depose one king in order to set up 
another, seemed to them very illogical. At their head 
stood the venerable Lafayette, who, with his halo of 1789 
— which Thiers had helped to preserve — still brilliant, 
was all powerful. He ruled at the Hotel de Ville, where 
he sat surrounded by the most ardent leaders of the re- 
publican party. Thiers alone could bring him to a com- 
position. Lafayette held in high esteem the author of 



48 Life of Thiers. [1830. 

the French Revolution, who had spoken so well of him, 
and would consequently listen to his advice.* Thiers 
sent M. de Remusat to the Hotel de Ville, who did not 
have much trouble in convincing Lafayette that the 
Duke of Orleans was, for the present, "the best of re- 
publics." When M. d% Remusat left the Hotel de Ville, 
the new monarchy was assured. There only remained 
to remove the scruples of the duke himself. The prince 
would not ask for the crown ; at least, he did not wish 
to appear to want it ; he desired that it seem to be 
forced upon him. However this may be, Thiers took it 
upon himself to bring the duke to a decision. 

Accompanied by some of the leaders of the move- 
ment, Thiers had an interview with the duke, who had 
quitted his chateau at Neuilly and was installed in the 
Palais-Royal at Paris. He was easily induced to take 
the title of lieutenant-general of the kingdom. This pro- 
visional title had a magic influence. Conciliatory, ap- 
parently leaving everything to the free choice of the 
nation, it was well received by everybody. The popula- 
tion of Paris was seduced and carried away by it. The 
duke had accepted the tri-color of the Revolution, and 
had declared in a proclamation that henceforth the Char- 
ter should be a reality. This was all that was needed 
to respond to the two sentiments which rilled all breasts, 

* " Lafayette had not the passions and the genius which frequently lead to 
the abuse of power ; with an equable mind, a sound understanding and a 
system of invariable disinterestedness, he was peculiarly fitted for the part 
which circumstances had allotted to him — that of superintending the exe- 
cution of the laws." — Thiers' s French Revolution, Vol. I., p. 75, et passim. 



Mt. 33.] The Revolution of July. 49 

patriotism, inspired by the tri-color cockade, which re- 
called so many glorious deeds, and love for the princi- 
ples of the Revolution, which the Charter consecrated. 
From that moment, the triumph of the new monarchy 
was certain. It was not yet founded, but it was assured, 
and with it, a new era was to open to the man who had 
done so much to make it possible. 



CHAPTER III. 

EARLY YEARS OF THE JULY MONARCHY. — 183O-4O. 

Mr. Sumner, the illustrious senator whose memory we 
honor, during his last visit to Paris, had a long conversa- 
tion with M. Gambetta, on the state of France and its 
frequent and often terrible revolutions. The senator re- 
ferred the origin of all these evils to the apostacy of 
Henry IV, to that political policy which sacrifices princi- 
ples to circumstances, and which prompted the prince to 
express that famous sentiment, " Paris is well worth a 
mass." " No," said Mr. Sumner in a burst of eloquence, 
which forcibly struck M. Gambetta,* " however beautiful 
Paris may be, it is not worth a mass, if a mass is the aban- 
donment of a belief or a principle. It is not by sinking 
to the level of circumstances, not by debasing one's self 
by capitulations of conscience, that principles are estab- 
lished which endure. The selfish abjuration of the friend 
of Sully has been a virus, which has not grown less nox- 
ious by age, a slow and deadly poison, which, penetrating 
into the whole social body, corrupted it, until the French 
Revolution came to infuse new blood into it. What a 
fatality proceeded from that original sin ! The last de- 
"* We have this anecdote from Gambetta himself. 



jet. 33.] The July Monarchy. 5 1 

scendant, the last representative of the father of the 
Bourbons, may have been innocent ; but the dynasty was 
culpable ; it was a just retribution that it perish in the 
convulsions produced by the remedy which the crime of 
its founder had rendered necessary. History is a Nemesis 
without bowels, which punishes without pity." 

That Mr. Sumner's opinion, the nobility of which — no 
one at least would deny — is not irreproachable from a his- 
torical stand point, is doubtless true ; but it is incontesta- 
ble, that any political system whatever, is in great danger 
if it do not proceed from a principle founded in the depths 
of the national conscience, and if those, whose mission it 
is to apply it, have not faith in it and subordinate it to 
their personal views, to their own interests. 

The reign of Louis-Philippe — to take an example that 
can not be questioned — is a striking proof, not so much of 
the necessity of a moral principle in the origin of a gov- 
ernment which would hope to live and would pretend to 
be something more than a mere expedient, but of the 
vital importance of a harmony between the political sys- 
tem that is adopted and the vigorous application of that 
system. Louis-Philippe, a descendant of the grandson of 
Henry IV, — which fact he did not forget to proclaim at 
the proper time — did not give up his faith in accepting 
the crown of France ; his dynasty was not born of infi- 
delity to principle, the sin with which Mr. Sumner re- 
proaches his great ancestor ; though a prince and a Bour- 
bon, he breathed the spirit of '89, which he had, so to 



52 Life of Thiers. [ r 8 30 . 

speak, sucked at the breast ; he was a son of the eighteenth 
century, and a great admirer of Voltaire. But he forgot, 
little by little, that under a constitutional monarchy " the 
King reigns but does not govern," and, if he did not en- 
force his will with a high hand as did Charles X, he pur- 
sued the same fatal course in a quiet way. Louis-Philippe 
was also too much absorbed in his own private interests 
and in the advancement of his family. On the one hand, 
he was too much of a king ; on the other, not enough of a 
king. So he fell, and along with him that system of govern- 
ment on which so many eminent Frenchmen, Talleyrand, 
Thiers, Cousin, Mignet, Remusat, and a host of others, 
had founded their hopes for the future of France. 

Thiers, some months before his death, had a long con- 
versation with a friend concerning Louis-Philippe, the 
most interesting portions of which, furnished us by the 
lady herself,* we present below : 

" The first time I saw the Duke of Orleans," said 
Thiers, " was on the evening of the day on which the fatal 
ordinances were signed. I was at St. Leu-Taverny, at 
the chateau of Mme. de Feucheres.f I had accompanied 

*We refer to Mrs. Emily Crawford, the talented Paris correspondent of 
the London News, and now (1878, correspondent of the New York Tiibune. 
Portions of this same conversation given in the text will be found, though 
in different language, in Mrs. Crawford's interesting article, M. Thiers : a 
sketch from life by an English pencil, published in Maanillan's Magazine 
for November, 1877. The account given in the text was written before 
Mrs. Crawford's article appeared. 

f This is the woman who acted such a dark part in the tragedy attending the 
mysterious death of the Duke de Bourbon, " the last of the Condes." as 
graphically told in Chapter XII of Louis Blanc's History of Ten Years. The 
chateau of St. Leu, a village about ten miles north of Paris, was one of the 
legacies wormed out of the old duke by Mme. de Feucheres. 



yEx. 33 .] The July Monarchy. 53 

Mme. de Courtchamp, the friend of Mme. de Feucheres, 
at whose country seat not far distant, I sometimes spent 
Sunday. 

" There were a great many people at the chateau. A 
comedy was being performed. During an intermission 
we found ourselves assembled in the salon du theatre, a sort 
of neutral ground, a foyer de Vope'ra, where grand dames, 
scrupulous of decorum and appearances, thought they 
might approach the mistress of the Duke de Bourbon 
without compromising themselves. Mme. de Feucheres, 
who was very intimate with Madame Adelaide, Louis- 
Philippe's sister, hoped, with the princess, to make the 
duke a king, if the folly of Charles X should render the 
throne vacant. Mme. de Courtchamp remarked to 
her, pointing to Louis-Philippe who was near by, ' Well, 
there is the king you need.' Mme. de Feucheres re- 
peated the remark to the duke. It is but just to say 
that he paid little heed to her ; he did not like adventures. 
Danton once predicted to him, as the witches did to 
Macbeth, that he would be king. But he scarcely desired 
it ; it was not he who, in order to gain a crown, would 
have stained his hands with a drop of blood, which all great 
Neptune's ocean could not wash out. It was Madame 
Adelaide who eventually persuaded him to accept it. 

" Louis-Philippe was a bourgeois in rather the deroga- 
tory sense that is sometimes applied to this word. Cour- 
ageous, exposing himself to danger, with a just idea of 
his dignity, intelligent and spirited, both true heroism 



54 Life of Thiers. [1830-37. 

and lofty ambition were lacking in him. He was not 
attracted by glory, except the glory of money. It has 
been said, that one evening while playing billiards at the 
Tuileries, he dropped a franc, which, leaning over to 'pick 
up, but not finding immediately, he continued to look 
for, until one of the players, who was not by the way 
a millionaire, taking pity on him, pulled from his own 
purse a bank bill, which he lighted, in order to assist the 
King in his search, and, at the same time, to teach him a 
lesson. But this is a society calumny, a story gotten up 
by his enemies, though, to be sure, it is a counterfeit in 
which there is some truth. It is true that Louis-Phil- 
ippe loved money too much, but it was not for himself 
that he wanted it, not to gratify costly tastes, since his 
were very simple. Nor was his passion that of an unfeel- 
ing miser. If he adored his family, it was for its sake, in 
order to establish it, to richly endow it, to make it the 
wealthiest in Europe, that he gave so much thought to 
the increment of his fortune, and so much care to pro- 
tecting it from all danger. All the reproaches that this 
avarice brought down upon him, which fill the pamphlets 
of the period, were merited, if we except the inevitable 
exaggerations, and particularly the wicked calumnies of 
Cormenin.* 

" Believe me, my dear madame, that, if I speak of all 
this, it is not out of any ill-will towards a prince whom I 

* M. de Cormenin (1788-1868), also known under the nom de plume of 
" Timon," was a celebrated French pamphleteer, who, a republican during 
the reign of Louis-Philippe, finally went over to the Empire. 



jet. 33-40.] The July Monarchy. 55 

admired, and who returned my regard ; I am not given to 
posthumous slander. No, but it is because this charac- 
teristic which I have pointed out to you, has produced 
important consequences in our history; it is because 
these family preoccupations have played a very grievous 
part in our domestic and foreign politics, inasmuch as 
they often got complicated with the tendencies of per- 
sonal government, and so affected the spirit of our insti- 
tutions. 

" If I were to write the history of this reign, I should 
divide it into two parts; the first, from 1830 to 1840, the 
second, from 1840 to the revolution of 1848 ; and I 
should say that the first period was characterized by the 
predominance of the protestant and liberal spirit ; that 
the second was marked by a catholic influence, and that 
— a result which necessarily followed — personal royalty 
now became more prominent, and there was a tendency 
to substitute the monarch's will for that of the country. 

" This fact showed itself in the marriages of the family, 
or its attempts at marriages. In the first period, Louis- 
Philippe gave one of his daughters to a protestant 
prince, Leopold, who, after a revolution, became King of 
Belgium ; he married the heir presumptive, the Duke of 
Orleans, to a protestant princess, and he had great hopes 
of being able to win for his second son, the Duke de 
Nemours, the hand of the future queen of England, the 
Princess Victoria, to whom had been sent the prince's 
portrait, which she admired too much to please the old 



56 Life of Thiers. [1846. 

King, William IV, whose preferences were for a Coburg. 
The match fell through because of the duke's unwilling- 
ness to change his religion. This all occurred during the 
epoch of the protestant ministers, Guizot, Gasparin, * 
Humann f and others, not to speak of the free-thinkers. 
The Tuileries were then hermetically sealed to clerical 
influences. This lasted so long as there were hopes of 
the consummation of the English marriage. But when 
these fell to the ground, the royal father turned in an- 
other direction, and catholic princesses supplanted pro- 
testant princesses. You know all about the grand affair 
of the Spanish marriages, % into which Guizot entered 
eagerly, and from which he did not escape without tar- 
nishing his glory. I have told you the consequences : 
Ultramontane influences entered the palace, the govern- 
ment had to compound with Catholicism. This was 
clearly evident in the question of non-sectarian educa- 
tion, in the venemous attacks made on the University, 
which was accused of all the crimes imaginable, but 
whose only fault was that of being a laical institution 
pervaded with the spirit of the Revolution. 

" Another consequence still, which I have pointed out 

* Gasparin, (1783-1862), famous agriculturist, politician, and soldier ; Peer 
of Fiance, 1834; Minister of the Interior, 1836; of Agriculture, 1839; and 
member of the Academy of Sciences. 

f Humann, (1780-1842), deputy under the Restoration; Peer of France, 
1837 ; and Minister of Finances from 1832 to 1836. 

% Two of Louis-Philippe's sons the Duke d'Aumale and the Duke de 
Montpensier, were to marry Spanish princesses, the first, Queen Isabella, the 
second, the Infanta, Maria Louisa, the queen's younger sister. The first 
marriage was given up through fear of provoking Europe, but the second 
was consummated on October 10th, 1846, much to the dislike of England. 



Mr. 49.] The 7 u h Monarchy. 5? 

to you. So long as the family considered its interests to 
lie on the protestant side, it was more liberal, more faith- 
ful to its origin ; people governed themselves, and were 
allowed to govern themselves ; but from the moment that 
Catholicism got the upper hand, the Bourbon came to 
the surface ; the Duke of Orleans was forgotten. They 
opposed the current so determinedly that it increased by 
resistance, until one fine day it became a torrent and 
swept us all into the abyss." 

The whole secret of the conduct of Thiers under the 
government of July is thus divulged by Thiers himself; 
for the foregoing resume of this historical conversation, 
however incomplete and tame it may be, exactly repro- 
duces the thoughts of the illustrious statesman on the 
subject about which we are now speaking. It seems to 
us that by reflecting on it, one can comprehend without 
trouble the whole role, apparently so contradictory, which 
he played in this drama of eighteen years' duration. It 
has been said by M. Cuvillier-Fleury * that combative- 
ness entered largely into the cause of Thiers's " intermit- 
tent " opposition to Louis-Philippe. We can not entire- 
ly subscribe to that opinion. Man is not pure spirit ; in- 
stincts are mingled with most of our acts, and Thiers, like 
all strong and active intellects, was moved at the same 
time by passion and reason. But it is not viewing him in 
his true light, to attribute in the slightest degree his 

* M. Fleury is a member of the French Academy, a conservative repub- 
lican, and a writer in the Journal des Debats. See the number for Septem- 
ber 30th, 1877. 



58 Life of Thiers. [1830. 

opposition to a passion or to an instinct. It arose from 
a deeper and nobler cause, from devotion to the political 
ideal that he had conceived, from belief in the maxims 
that he had established for its realization. If we com- 
pare this ideal with Louis-Philippe's interpretation of 
what a constitutional monarch should be, as just depicted 
by Thiers, it is evident that antagonism must have arisen 
between the King and him who had made the King. 
Thiers was not the man to suffer even the shadow of per- 
sonal government, and precisely for the reason that he 
had more than any one else contributed to place the prin- 
ciples which were dear to him under the safe-guard of a 
monarchy, he felt that it was his duty more than that of 
any body to preserve them from every dishonor, from 
every violation. 

Thiers held a prominent position among the men 
whom the revolution of July had put in power. He did 
not figure, however, in the first ministry ; he was young, 
but thirty-three years old ; he had to give way to his 
elders, Guizot, Broglie, * Dupin,f Casimir Perier. ^ He 
was, however, called into the Council of State, a 
semi-political, semi-administrative body, and accepted 

* The Duke de Broglie, (1785-1870), author and politician ; Minister of 
Public Instruction, 1830 ; of Foreign Affairs, 1832 ; deputy in 1849 ; mem- 
ber of the French Academy, 1855 ; and father of the present Duke de Brog- 
lie, who is prominent in French politics. 

f Dupin, known as Dupin aine, (1783-1865), celebrated advocate ; mem- 
ber of the Provisional Government in 1830 : president of the Chamber of 
Deputies, 1832-40 ; member of the Academy 1832 ; deputy 1848 ; senator 
1857. 

% Perier, (C777-1832), the celebrated orator, member of the Opposition 
under the Restoration and Prime Minister under Louis- Philippe. 



jet. 33.J The jftdy Monarchy. 59 

a position in the Treasury Department from the 
hands of Baron Louis. But after the elections by which 
one-third of the Chamber was replaced, and while the 
Laffitte ministry was under consideration, the King, at 
the suggestion of Baron Louis, — who was high in praise of 
his ability, — offered Thiers a portfolio. He refused the 
proffered honor, for he did not consider himself perfectly 
prepared to accept it ; and he did not wish to retire from 
the Treasury Department, until he had made himself 
thoroughly acquainted with all the details of this im- 
portant and complicated branch of the civil service. The 
King — -who desired to link Thiers more closely with his 
own fortunes— insisted in vain. The young deputy — for 
the electors of Aix had sent him to the Chamber — would 
only take the post of Under-Secretary of the Treasury, 
under his friend M. Laffitte, who had succeeded Baron 
Louis and who was also Prime Minister. 

The friends of the new monarchy differed from the 
first concerning the line of policy that should be followed. 
One party wished " to keep within the narrowest limits, 
the changes of dynasty or institutions," as Guizot said in 
November, 1830; the other, according to the words of 
Lafayette, desired a monarchy " surrounded with repub- 
lican institutions." Laffitte took ground with Lafayette. 
Thiers, too, seemed to hold the same views, but he had not 
yet committed himself in the tribune to either party. He 
had only occasionally, in coming to the aid of M. Laffitte, 
taken part in the discussions concerning the finances. 



J 



60 Life of Thiers. [1830. 

Thiers had many grave obstacles to conquer in acquir- 
ing the art of oratory. M. de Cormenin says of him at 
this period : " He has no figure, no stature, no grace. He 
resembles the little barbers of the south, who go about 
from door to door offering their services. In his prattle 
there is something of the gamin. His twang grates on. 
the ear. The tribune comes up to his shoulders and hides 
him from his hearers. Physical disadvantages, distrust 
in his enemies and friends, all are against him." The 
portrait is exaggerated both physically and morally ; it 
borders upon caricature ; it is painted by the hand of an 
enemy. Thiers was small but not ridiculously so ; he had 
a harsh and piercing voice, but it was not nasal. It is 
true that he did not possess the external graces, which 
taken together make up what Buffon calls " the eloquence 
of the organs," and which have such a powerful effect on 
assemblages of men. His greatest fault, however, at his 
debut, was the homage that he paid to the oratorical style 
then in vogue, a sort of academical or classical species of 
oratory, which was not suited to his talents, which ran 
counter to amature that was full of animation, impulsive, 
formed of fire and flame like that of the Hippogriff of 
Ariosto. For this reason his oratorical powers did not 
immediately appear in their true light, and his enemies 
questioned whether he had any. "But it did not take 
him long," says M. Cuvillier-Fleury, " to learn the proper 
bearing and gestures of the tribune, to acquaint himself 
with the echoes of the Chamber, and to give the right 



^t. 33.] TJie yuly Monarchy. 61 

modulation to his voice, which was always heard because 
always listened to. The speech that he delivered on 
December 9th, 1830, — his first set speech — displayed 
some of the best qualities of his oratory. This first pro- 
duction, this first effusion from a source which was to 
prove itself so rich, was marked by Thiers's characteristic 
clearness in treating of a multitude of details. There was 
a charm in its very length, in the varied development of 
the same idea, in the spirited insistence of the speaker, 
in the increased animation produced alike by accord or 
opposition, so that the greatest effects of eloquence were 
realized." * 

This maiden speech of Thiers's concerned a question 
which set by the ears the different parties of the Chamber, 
the friends of the French Revolution against the coun- 
ter-revolutionists, the new monarchy against that which 
it had supplanted. It was nominally a discussion about 
the further indemnity of the emigrants — the royal- 
ists who fled from France in the stormy era of 1789, — but 
in reality it concerned the legitimacy of the French 
Revolution ; for to compensate its enemies for losses suf- 
fered by them while its friends were disregarded, was to 
condemn the Revolution by obliging it to disgorge. The 
great orator Berryer and the Count Alexis de Noaillesf led 
the opposition. Thiers spoke several times in his capacity 
of an official of the Treasury Department, and, though he 

* Journal des DSals, September 30th, 1877. 

f The Count de Noailles , (1783- 1 835), statesmen and philanthropist ; deputy 
during the Restoration ; and a strong legitimist throughout his whole life. 



62 Life of Thiers. [ I 8 3 o. 

had never as yet fallen below his subject, it was 
especially on this occasion that he attracted atten- 
tion. He was in his element and felt himself 
equal to the emergency. He strongly held that 
the acts which had deprived the emigrants of their 
property were just ; that indemnity was an iniquity ; 
responded briefly but clearly to all the arguments of the 
other side; and closed by summing up the underlying 
principles of the new Government. It was a masterpiece 
of forensic oratory, if oratory consists in acting on men by 
responding to their feelings, and if it is measured by the 
effect produced. Thiers was the mouth-piece of the 
Chamber and the country, in their opinion of the emi- 
gration and the Revolution, as well as the organ of the 
Government ; and, judging from the exclamations of ap- 
probation or disapprobation that are found in the official 
report of the speech, it evidently stirred up the passions 
of the Chamber. The public, too, eagerly commented 
upon the speech. It was a success, — perhaps not an as- 
tounding one, — but the first link of a chain which was to 
be so brilliant, and in which — as M. Barthelemy — St. 
Hilaire* once remarked — there was no break. 

When Thiers gave himself up to a cause, he gave him- 
i self up entirely ; when he marked out a course of action, 

* Barthelemy. St. Hilaire, born in 1805, is well-known as philosopher, 
statesmen, and professor. He signed the protest of the journalists in 1830 ; 
was deputy under the Republic of 1848 ; was forced to resign his professor- 
ship in the College de France by Napoleon III ; became the confidential 
friend of Thiers during the latter's presidency, and was deputy from 1871, 
until made life senator, which position he now (1878) holds. 



jet, 33 .] The jfuly Monarchy. 63 

he followed it to the end. It was not his nature to do 
things by halves, nor to abandon what he had undertaken. 
To him the July Monarchy was a step in advance in the 
onward progress of the French Revolution ; but it was 
not a disorderly or a too precipitous progression, which 
would expose itself to defeat or rout, as happened in 1848. 
Thiers's aim was to defend the new Government from its 
enemies, its friends and itself : from its enemies, the legi- 
timists and the republicans, who were still very powerful, 
since the first were masters of the rural districts, the sec- 
ond, dominant in some of the great cities ; from its friends, 
who over-zealous, might cause a deviation from its princi- 
ples ; and finally from itself, from the tendency of the 
executive to arrogate powers not belonging to him, and 
who not content to play his own part in the orchestra, 
(to borrow a favorite comparison of Louis-Philippe him- 
self,) wished to be the leader, the composer, and the player 
of all the instruments, if such a thing were possible.* 

From this point of view, the policy of Thiers in the 
different ministerial positions which he held from 1832 to 
1840 is easily explained and cleared up, whether we re- 
gard him as Minister of the Interior or Minister of For- 
eign Affairs ; for his foreign policy was closely allied with 
the principles of the July Dynasty, as well as with the in- 
terests of the French Revolution, which to him were the 
glory of France. 

* Louis-Philippe often expressed regret at not being able to defend his 
policy in the tribune of the Chamber. 



64 Life of Thiers. (^832. 

After the death of Casimir Perier, in May 1832, Thiers 
became Minister of the Interior, then head of the Depart- 
ment of Public Works, and finally went back to the Inte- 
rior again, where he remained until February 22nd, 1836, 
when his reputation had so increased that he was made 
Prime Minister with the portfolio of the Foreign office. 
In about six months the Mole ministry came into power 
— the first attempt at personal goverment — and Thiers 
was thrown into the Opposition. In March, 1840, he is 
again Prime Minister with the portfolio of Foreign Af- 
fairs. In all these changes he ever remains faithful to 
his plan, ever like himself. 

The close of the Perier ministry was profoundly agita- 
ted by popular disturbances and external and internal 
political questions. Thiers took part in the discussions 
in the Chamber, where, to the astonishment o'f the public, 
he advocated among other measures not in accord with 
his former principles, the theory of an hereditary peer- 
age, which he pronounced to be the best safeguard for 
the moderation and balance of power. But, though very 
aggressive and brilliant, he played only a secondary role 
at this time. After the death of Perier, however, he took 
a direct and responsible part in the councils of the govern- 
ment. He was now in a position to display his powers 
of intelligence, initiative and political energy, powers 
which have never since been surpassed. 

This was the most troublesome and dramatic epoch of 
the July Monarchy, the most fitting for the play of that 



yE T . 35.] The July Monarchy. 65 

spirit of combativeness with which M. Cuvillier-Fleury 
thinks Thiers was so largely endowed. It was a period 
of desperate struggles and stormy skies, but nevertheless, 
the best, on the whole, of the reign, and that which did it 
the most honor. 

Thiers, as Minister of the Interior, supported the brunt 
of the charge. The tempest assailed him on three sides : 
the legitimist insurrection in La Vendee which was smoth- 
ered, however, in its germ, and which in its denotement 
bordered on the ridiculous, the revolts at Paris and at 
Lyons which were drowned in blood. 

Thiers has always come to power in extremely critical 
moments. He is said to have remarked, " It must be 
that Providence has great confidence in me ; for, when- 
ever I am called to the front, the most embarrassing af- 
fairs seem to await my treatment." It is certain at least, 
that at the moment when death carried off Casimir Perier,, 
a weighty inheritance, a perilous and complicated situa- 
tion, was left to his successors, and especially to Thiers. 
The legitimist party, champing its bit, was in a state of 
agitation in the western departments ; the republican 
party, more redoutable than the foregoing,though humbled 
at the funeral of General Lamarque, * had not disarmed ; 
while the Belgian expedition f — forced upon France 

* General Lamarque (1770-1832), a distinguished officer of Napoleon I, and 
a liberal statesman, his funeral at Paris was seized upon by the republicans to 
make a demonstration against the July Government. 

\ Belgium rebelled against Holland soon after the Revolution of 1830 ; its 
independence was recognized by the great powers, and the crown was be- 
stowed upon Prince Leopold, who had married the eldest daughter of Louis- 



66 Life of Thiers. [ I 8 32 . 

by circumstances — threatened to produce a European com- 
plication. Providence, therefore, had not spared the man 
in whom it had confidence. Thiers did not of course do 
everything, but he bore the heaviest load, for he was the 
Minister of the Interior, and it was there that lay the 
greatest difficulties, the greatest dangers. 

The Vendean insurrection, undertaken against the 
wishes of the legitimist leaders, Chateaubriand, Berryer, 
and others, pertains as much to romance as to history. 
The Duchess of Berry, the mother of " Henry V," as the 
legitimists love to style their chief, the Count of Cham- 
bord, threw herself into the venture, not so much like 
Margaret of Anjou, as like Diana Vernon, or rather the 
Duchess of Longueville. But she had misjudged public 
opinion. The peasants of La Vendee were not in the least 
disposed to take up arms for their king ; the nobles and 
the priests even in La Vendee and in Brittany, notwith- 
standing their hatred of the new Government, felt them- 
selves powerless. A half dozen noblemen died bravely 
near Clisson, and this was all. The mass of the popula- 
tion, though on Vendean soil, did not move. Kindly 
welcome and ardent promises of devotion were about all 
the princess could obtain. 

If the legitimists were to give the principle reason of 
the obstinate hatred with which they have pursued 
Thiers, and which has not passed away with him, it would 

Philippe. The King of Holland refused to recognize the independence of 
Belgium, but England and France opposed him, and the latter sent an army 
against Antwerp in November 1832, which brought Holland to terms. 



^x. 35 .] The July Monarchy 67 

be, we think, his conduct as Minister of the Interior dur- 
ing the insurrection of La Vendee. They could forgive 
him a revolution which snatched from them the crown; but 
they could not forgive him one measure or one act which 
had for its object to expose to public malignity their 
sovereign's mother, whose virtues they sang among the 
faithful, nor the laying bare to the world the feebleness of 
the woman whose heroism they had hoped to turn to the 
profit of their cause. 

One day Thiers received an anonymous letter. The 
writer offered for a sum of money to deliver up to him 
the Duchess of Berry. The rendezvous for the explana- 
tion of the conditions and means of execution was to be 
the Allege des Veuves* in the Champs-Elysees. Thiers 
scented treason. The means were not very honorable, 
but he did not hesitate however, for it was a question of 
public peace ; and what else but licensed deception is the 
secret service, a regular weapon of government ? 

The minister went to the appointed rendezvous. He 
found there a Jew named Deutz, who was in the service 
of the duchess and enjoyed her confidence. The stipula- 
tions agreed upon, Deutz made known the retreat of the 
duchess, at that moment at Nantes, and the more im- 
portant fact that she was pregnant. We need not speak 
of her capture, of her imprisonment in the fortress at 
Blaye, of her almost public accouchement, and of her con- 
sequent disgrace. The woman had killed the heroine ; 
* To-day, Avenue Montaigne. 



/ 



68 Life of Thiers. [1832-34. 

the July Monarchy had dealt a deadly blow at the legiti- 
mist cause. 

The struggle with the republicans was more serious 
and more tragic. It demanded of the young minister 
the employment of more vigorous and more virile quali- 
ties. 

The republican party came upon the scene armed 
from the first with three weapons, namely, the principle of 
popular sovereignty, which, though invoked by the revo- 
lution of July, was never formally established by it, but 
which was in 1848 to demand its logical consequence, uni- 
versal suffrage; secondly, that sentiment of patriotism, 
which could not resign itself to the disasters of 18 14 and 
181 5, and whose illusions and hopes, poetry, history and 
eloquence vied with each other to keep alive ; and lastly, 
socialism, which existing in a latent state, was advanced 
only as a germ destined to develop. And these forces, 
so powerful by themselves, were organized and regulated 
by secret societies, which prepared in the dark a serious 
danger that political wisdom could perhaps avert, and 
which it was absolutely necessary to avert at any price, if 
the Government would not perish. 

A great number of republican disturbances occurred in 
different cities of France during the first years of the July 
Monarchy. A strike among the silk weavers of Lyons in 
1834, culminated in an insurrection on the sixth of 
April. This same day Thiers took up again the portfolio 
of the Interior Department which he had laid down for 



^et. 35-37] The July Monarchy. 69 

that of Commerce and Public Works. In the first phase 
of the Lyonnese troubles the Government had been leni- 
ent, but Thiers, seeing how the republican agitation was 
spreading from city to city, thought a different course 
should be pursued, and wrote to the Prefect '". to use en- 
ergy if the sanctuary of justice is violated." Energy was 
indeed employed ; for five days Lyons was the theatre of 
a violent and bloody struggle. 

But the republicans were not discouraged. At Paris 
some audacious and able leaders had organized an aggres- 
sive society. Thiers, "with provident boldness," — to use 
the words of Guizot, — arrested the leaders of the Soci- 
ety of the Rights of Man, and seized the republican 
organ, the Tribune. This did not, however, check the 
threatened outbreak. On April 13th, 1834 — on the recep- 
tion of the news of the defeat of the insurgents at Lyons — - 
barricades were raised at Paris in the most populous 
quarters on both sides of the Seine. A terrible contest 
ensued. Thiers, who had concerted the plan with Gen- 
eral Bugeaud, wished to be present at its execution, for 
he was possessed of rare personal courage. He left the 
Hotel de Ville in company with the general, and as they 
were passing along what is now the rue du Temple, two 
shots were fired at Thiers, who was easily recognised on ac- 
count of his small stature. About a year later, when the 
Corsican Fieschi exploded his infernal machine in the hopes 
of killing Louis-Philippe, Thiers's diminutiveness stood 
him in good stead, for the bullets that would have struck 



Jo Life of Thiers. [1834-35. 

6 

him if he had been a few inches taller, passed over his 
head and killed Marshal Mortier, who was at his side. 

The following episode, which occurred one night dur- 
ing this same insurrection, is given in the words of Guizot : 

" M. Thiers, accompanied by General Bugeaud, wished 
to see for himself the extent of the combat and the dan- 
ger. They marched along by the houses at the head of 
a little column, without any other light than that given by 
lamps in some of the windows, which fell upon the uni- 
forms and arms. A shot from a cellar-grating killed one 
of the captains ; another mortally wounded a young audi- 
tor of the state-council bearing a message to M. Thiers. 
As they advanced, new victims fell, and they looked in 
vain for the murderers. As soon as daylight came a gen- 
eral attack was made upon the insurgents. * * * 
By seven o'clock, A.M. the struggle had ceased, the insur- 
rection was suppressed."* 

The defeat of the republican party in these various 
revolts did not disarm its hatred of the Government, as 
was proven by the explosion of Fieschi's infernal ma- 
chine. Peace, however, reigned in the streets of Paris, 
which until 1848 was only slightly disturbed by isolated 
affrays. 

Was this unfortunate state of affairs the result of the 
energetic measures of repression that had been employed, 
or was it rather due to diverse acts, diverse laws that the 
ministry had had recourse to, as the law against associa- 

* Mimoires de Guizot, T. III., p. 247. 



jet. 37-38.] The yuly Monarchy. 7 1 

tions, the refusal of amnesty, the famous enactments 
known by the name of the " Laws of September," which 
annulled all the liberal legislation concerning the press in- 
augurated by the revolution of 1830? However this 
may be, Thiers felt that this policy of force had served 
its time and that it was fitting to enter upon a new 
era. 

Public opinion pointed in this direction. The laws of 
September had stirred up the whole press, and some of 
the ablest leaders of the Chamber began to break with 
the Government in its repressive policy. Royer-Collard, 
the most considerable among them, protested against it 
in the name of human dignity. He developed, with a 
rare elevation of thought and language, the idea that the 
evil which the Government pretended to remove by bitter 
and cruel palliatives, was not an evil sprung from the 
events of the day, but one connected with a series of 
historical facts which France had experienced, the tri- 
umphs of force over right ; that the remedy — far from 
being where the Government sought it — could only be 
found in the moral sentiment of man, in respect for 
human dignity, that is, in liberty * 

The strength of the liberal dynastic Opposition was 
increased by the general discontent. The Government 
was overstepping justifiable bounds. A party was being 
formed, even in the majority in the Chamber, composed 



*See the Moniteur of August 26th, 1835. 



J 2 Life of Thiers. ^836. 

of strongmen, like Dupin, Sauzet,* Passy.f Dufaure % and 
others, whose numbers were increasing daily, and which 
was plainly leaning towards a change of policy. Thiers 
was not the man to overlook such warnings. 

On February 22nd, 1836, Thiers became Premier with 
the portfolio of Foreign Affairs. If Guizot can be be- 
lieved, this new cabinet resulted from considerations for 
the most part of a personal nature. Thiers was tired of 
the Interior and strongly desired the ministry of For- 
eign Affairs ; he did not like the Duke de Broglie, who 
held this latter position ; he did not wish to appear too 
intimately united with the Doctrinaires ; he was careful 
to stand forth independently of them. The proof of 
this, according to Guizot, lies in the fact that the new 
Cabinet continued the interior policy of its predecessor, 
" only it made a little more show about it." No, Guizot 
was a poor observer, or had a poor memory. And 
strangely enough he goes on to say: " There is in every 
great human enterprise a superior and governing idea 
which ought to be the fixed point, the guiding star of 
those who are called to play a part in it. This dominant 
idea, this great light of 1832, disappeared in 1836." Now, 

* Sauzet, born in 1800, advocate, deputy in 1834 ; Minister of Justice from 
1836 to 1847. 

\ Passy, was born in 1793, economist, politician, deputy in 1830 ; Minister 
of the Finances, and head of the Department of Commerce from 1834 to 
1840 and from 1848 to 1849 ; Peer of France 1843 ; deputy in 1849. 

\ Dufaure, born in 1798, an advocate of distinction; deputy in 1834; 
a member of the Council of State during the Ministry of Thiers in 1836, and 
later minister of Public Works ; republican deputy and minister in 1848; 
Minister of Justice under Thiers's presidency ; life senator, and now (1878)' 
premier of France. 



^et. 39 .] The July Monarchy. 73 

this great light which disappeared, was the idea of resist- 
ance. The change of ministry, therefore, brought about 
more than an apparent modification of the policy of the 
Government. Conciliation and compromise were sub- 
stituted for antagonism and force. Able minds, and 
above all the quick brain of Talleyrand, saw that it was 
to the interest of the new royalty and to the welfare of 
the principles that it represented, that the course pursued 
up to this time be changed. The King himself had been 
struck by the power and progress of moderate ideas in 
the Chamber of Deputies. Thiers was too attentive to the 
various signs of the time not to see the change ^that had 
taken place in the public mind. It is puerile to search 
with Guizot for an explanation of facts which arise from 
a situation of public affairs, in secondary and simple per- 
sonal considerations. It is true that the new Cabinet 
was not able to show what its domestic policy was to be, 
was not able to carry out its plans. Complications of 
foreign policy hindered it and cut it short in the midst of 
its career. 

Louis- Philippe said one day to Guizot : " I have need 
of M. Thiers or you in the Chamber." He might rather 
have said : I lean first to one of you, then to the other, 
and I am sometimes embarrassed to chose between you. 
There is no doubt, in fact, that the King was, in the actual 
state of affairs, considerably embarrassed. He preferred 
Thiers's policy at home and Guizot's abroad, Thiers for 
interior affairs, Guizot for foreign affairs. The state of 



74 Life of Thiers. [1836-37. 

things in Spain forced him to determine upon a choice. 
The question of armed intervention in this country had 
been considered in the last ministry, that of the nth 
of October, as it was called. The King was opposed to 
intervention. " Let us aid Spain," he said one day, "but 
let us not ourselves enter into their bark. If we get in, 
we must take the helm, and God only knows what will be- 
come of us !" The whole Cabinet, except M. de Montalivet, 
Minister of the Interior, confidant and personal friend 
of the King, favored intervention, and decided not upon 
an indirect aid — the King was resigned to this — but upon 
an immediate and effective assistance. Liberal Spain 
demanded it. The treaty of the Quadruple Alliance, 
which united the constitutional monarchies of England. 
France, Spain, and Portugal, seemed to force France so 
to act. The King recoiled from the idea. " The ice 
must be broken," said Thiers ; " your majesty does not 
wish for intervention ; we wish it ; I will resign." And 
he did resign. 

Then was formed the Cabinet which was destined to 
be, at a later day, the object of the Coalition. Thiers re- 
signed August 25th, 1836. The Mole ministry was formed 
September 6th. Guizot was Minister of Public Instruc- 
tion in the new Cabinet. 

In the summer following his retirement, Thiers departed 
for Italy. A history of Florence had occupied his mind for 
some time, and he determined to take advantage of this 
respite from political duties to collect on the spot data 



Mr. 39-40.] The July Monarchy. J 5 

for the book. He visited Rome, having for cicerone the 1 
illustrious painter, M. Ingres, who was director of the 
Paris School of Painting in that city, and divided his 
admiration between the beautiful remains of antiquity 
and the masterpieces of the Renaissance. Thence he 
went to Florence. The approaching opening of the 
Chamber brought him back to Paris November 3d, 1838. 
, The discussion of the Address * in response to the 
Speech from the Throne which followed the meeting of 
the Chamber, is worthy of attention, not only because 
it gave Thiers an opportunity to defend the foreign pol- 
icy of his ministry and to explain its nature, but because 
it marks the beginning of his opposition to Louis-Phil- 
ippe, and because it was the almost official revelation of 
the King's personal policy, a sort of public and solemn 
denunciation of the corruption of the true principles of 
government. 

The two acts of Thiers's administration which were 
misunderstood were, first, the demand on Switzerland 
for the expulsion of a certain person named Conseil, who 
was represented as a dangerous refugee, but who was in 
reality an agent of the secret service of France, and sec- 
ondly, the question of Spanish intervention. 

On January 13th, 1837, the Conseil matter came up, and 
the next day the Spanish question. Thiers spoke on 
both occasions. Concerning the first affair, he recounted 

*The "Address" war the response of the Chamber to the "Speech from 
the Throne." 



J 6 Life of Thiers. r I 8 37 . 

the facts and said simply " that he acted honestly in de- 
manding the expulsion of Conseil, for he supposed him 
to be not a spy, but a refugee ; that he had made the 
criminative requisition on the representations of the Min- 
ister of the Interior;" and he added, addressing to his 
opponents these words, which should be remembered : 
"You have had recourse to a collective responsibility, 
that of the president of the Council of ministers. One 
has a right, you say, to turn to him for all the affairs of 
the Cabinet. That is true ; I was president of the Coun- 
cil, and I ought, therefore, to be responsible. Here is 
my answer: Yes, as president, I ought to have known 
everything, but I did not ; I should have been told 
everything, but I was not. Now it is yours to find on these 
seats the person on whom rests the real responsibility." 

Concerning the Spanish question, he spoke several 
hours, giving with admirable clearness the whole his- 
tory of the matter and ably justifying his policy. But 
he did not stop here ; he let it be known that the King 
had a contrary policy which had put an end to the min- 
istry, and which should be the real object of inquiry. 

A graver statement could not have been made. Roy- 
alty found itself thus unceremoniously discovered. The 
spectre of personal government reappeared again ; its 
return to the Tuileries was publicly denounced, and it 
was done by one of the founders of the Constitutional 
Monarchy, by the one of them perhaps the most powerful 

The sensation was profound. The Journal des Debats 



^et.4o.] The yuly Mo?tarchy. yj 

said the day before this speech was delivered : " We be- 
lieve that M. Thiers belongs to the majority by indissol- 
uble ties; he has associated his future with that of the 
majority by six years of glorious solidarity; he has, 
therefore, a marked position in the ranks of this major- 
ity, which is astonished to find him no longer at its head. 
Will M. Thiers choose another position?" This sprang 
from inquietude, but after the speech, inquietude gave 
place to irritation. Thiers, by bringing the King in ques- 
tion, was accused of betraying the secrets of the council. 
He did not try to defend his conduct on other ground 
than that he had been driven to it by legitimate defense. 
The rupture that the Journal des DSats feared was 
therefore consummated ; but it was not only a rupture 
with the majority, but, what was more grave, with roy- 
alty. Thiers felt that his principles required of him 
such a course. It is certain that the King's secret inter- 
meddling in politics, his pretension — which he carried into 
effect — to a policy of his own, a personal action distinct 
from that of his responsible ministers, by which he dis- 
pensed with them — all this it was difficult to reconcile 
with Thiers's vigorous maxim, "the King reigns, but 
does not govern." Thiers's conduct is perhaps strength- 
ened by the fact that Guizot, who was a member of this 
same cabinet attacked by Thiers, was soon led (on April 
15th, 1837,) to separate from it and take part, in the name 
of the same principle, in the celebrated coalition formed 
against M. Mole. 



78 Life of Thiers. ^837. 

The period at which we have now arrived is full of 
interest to the history of the parliamentary government 
in France, and to the general history of the parties which 
then disputed and still dispute for the control of the 
country. It comprises Louis Napoleon's fiasco at Stras- 
burg in 1836; the acquittal of his accomplices by the 
jury; the changes in the Mole ministry, from which, as 
we have just said, Guizot resigned, and which adopted 
the conciliatory policy of its predecessor ; the promise 
made by Thiers to the King to come to the aid of the 
Cabinet thus modified, into which, furthermore, his friends 
of the Left-Centre * had entered ; a most brilliant oratori- 
cal struggle between Guizot and Thiers concerning the 
secret service appropriations, on which occasion the an- 
tagonism between the statesmen burst forth in clear day ; 
and, in fine, certain events arising from the foreign pol- 
icy of the country, which threw Thiers back into the Op- 
position again. But let us, for the present, pass over all 
this and devote ourselves to the Coalition. 

Royer-Collard said one day, in speaking of the Coalition, 

* The terms generally employed to designate the parlimentary parties in 
France, are the Right, (conservatives), the Centre, (liberals), and the Left, 
(radicals.) Sub-divisions are made into Extreme Right, (ultra-conservatives), 
Extreme Left, (ultra- radicals), Left-Centre, (advanced liberals), etc. The 
political opinions of these groups change with the epoch of French history 
under consideration. During the July Monarchy they might be thus desig- 
nated : Right, (legitimists,) Centre, (constitutional monarchists), Left, (re- 
publicans and radical monarchists). To-day, however, we may say : Right, 
(legitimists, Orleanists, and Bonapaitists,)Centre, (liberal republicans), Left, 
(radicals). It is difficult to be exact in these divisions, but a general rule 
places the conservatives on the right, the radicals on the left, and between 
these two extremes are ranged various groups whose political opinions often 
merge one into another. 



/Et. 40.] The July Monarchy. 79 

" I have seen better, I have seen worse, but I never saw 
anything like this." Royer-Collard would not have said 
this if he had troubled himself to look below the surface. 
Perhaps, too, he wished to point an epigram. The question, 
though less grave and of a different form, was nevertheless 
the same as that which had produced the liberal move- 
ment of 1828-9, and which had inspired and dictated the 
famous Address which the King, Charles X, had heard 
from the mouth of Royer-Collard himself. It was again 
a question of personal government or the government of 
the country by the country. Louis-Philippe never said, as 
has been pretended, " the government, it is I." But he 
had a policy of his own, and he took care that it should 
be known. He did not attack the prerogatives of repre- 
sentative government, but he perverted them. Guizot, 
in explaining his entry into the Coalition, has said that 
" the part that the Chamber took in the government was 
not large enough," that " the Cabinet of April 15th, (the 
second Mole ministry, gazetted in 1837,) was n °t able to 
establish between the Crown and the Chamber that 
cordial understanding and active harmony which, under a 
representative form of government, alone can guarantee 
the force and security of power, by centring in the min- 
isters the whole responsibilityof.it." * There was enough 
ground here, to unite in one common action men divided 
on many other points, like Thiers, Guizot, Odillon Bar- 

* M/m. de Guizot, T. I. p. 287. 



80 Life of Thiers. [1837. 

rot,* Arago, the astronomer, and Michel de Bourges, and 
to give some show of reason to the Coalition. Personal 
government has always been the bugbear of enlightened 
Frenchmen ; they have only been divided on the means 
of combating it, and of finding the best form of gov- 
ernment that will guard against it for the present and 
the future. 

Thiers directed the campaign, for he alone of the dis- 
affected leaders combined in himself the antecedents, the 
influence and the ability to secure the success of the en- 
y terprise. He was the leader of the Left-Centre. He had 
in the Left and even in the majority men upon whom he 
could count. He had powerful supporters in the press, 
and when they were wanting he knew how to create them. 
The efforts of a political leader in France are exerted 
in various directions, in the press, in the lobbies of the 
Chamber, in the salons, in the tribune. It may be said 
that the press prepares the arms and the munitions of 
war, that the talk in the lobbies and salons sounds the 
disposition of the troops, animating some, sustaining 
others, giving courage to the timid, hope to the ambitious, 
assigning to the captains their parts and placing them at 
their posts. Then only is it, after all these preliminaries, 
that the leader plants his flag in the tribune and deploys 
before the enemy. 

Thiers, who of course, excelled in this last decisive part 

* Barrot, (1791 ), advocate and liberal statesmen , belonged to the Left 

under the July Monarchy ; to the Right under the Republic of 1848 ; and was 
an enemy of the Empire. 



^ T . 40- ] The July Monarchy. 8 1 

of the action, was not less remarkable in the others. To 
a profound knowledge of men and of the means of -in- 
fluencing them, he added a peculiar talent for working 
upon the press and making it turn in his orbit. 

One word on this last point. Thiers had promised the 
King to support the ministry of April 15th, whose domes- 
tic policy was a reflection of his own ; but the reflection 
soon became so dull that it was scarcely visible, and the 
foreign policy, on the other hand, had so changed by the 
abandonment of Ancona * that it was no longer possible 
for Thiers even to seem to stand by the ministry. The 
overthrow of M. Mole and the paving of the way for a 
new policy were to be the great questions of the new 
session of the Chamber that was about to open. Thiers, 
as we have said, left for Italy in the month of June, 1837. 
While studying there the wonders of art and the great 
battle-fields of Bonaparte, he was watching with an atten- 
tive eye the mistakes of M. Mole, the movements of pub- 
lic opinion, and was endeavoring, among other means of 
putting an end to a condemned policy, to influence the 
course of the newspapers which were open to him, both 
by instructions and advice, sketching out a plan for the 
campaign for this one, suggesting the manoeuvres and 
evolutions that this other one should carry out.f 

* The French took possession of Ancona, on February 22d, 1832, in order 
to protect Italy from the aggressions of the Pope through Austrian assistance. 
This popular measure of Casimir Perier was undone by Mole, who withdrew 
the French garrison in 1838, thus giving a triumph to Austria and the Pope, 
and, at the same time, increasing his own and the King's unpopularity. 

\ See, on this point, among Thiers's letters from Italy at this period, that 
dated, June 24th, 1838, written to M. Veron, editor-in-chief of the important 
newspaper of the epoch, the Constitutionnel. 



82 Life of Thiers. [!8 3 8. 

The struggle began at the opening of the session in 
December, 1838. The committee of deputies appointed 
to draw up the customary Address to the King, pro- 
nounced for the policy of the Coalition. It criticised the 
whole foreign policy of M. Mole and the interior adminis- 
tration which showed too plainly the hand of the King. 
This last was the capital point of the Address. It recalled 
particularly the glorious origin of the monarchy in order 
to give the Tuileries to understand that this origin had 
not been forgotten. It laid especial stress on the insignifi- 
cance of the ministry, in order to clearly point out the pre- 
tensions of the King to govern himself and to impose his 
personal policy. In closing, the committee said : 

" We are convinced, Sire, that the intimate union of the 
public powers kept within their constitutional limits can 
alone effect the country's security and the strength of 
your government. A firm and able administration, rest- 
ing on noble sentiments, causing your throne to be re- 
spected without and reminding it of its responsibility 
within, is the best guarantee of that co-operation which 
we heartily desire to lend you. Let us trust, Sire, in the 
virtue of our institutions. They guarantee, be assured, 
your rights and ours ; for we consider it as an established 
fact, that the constitutional monarchy secures at the 
same time your rights and ours." 

The reading of the Address created a great agitation in 
the Chamber, an agitation that can be easily explained, 
for the document that provoked it was a rupture not 



jet. 41.] The July Monarchy. 83 

only with the ministry, but with the Crown, and the 
symptom of a division in the majority. 

The discussion that it gave rise to proved this : M. 
Mote committed the fault of feeble men in weak posi- 
tions. He forgot the noble words of Casimir Perier, 
addressed to his supporters : " In parliamentary strug- 
gles never seek to dishonor your opponents. It is de- 
basing France herself." The ministry of April 15th, con- 
trary to this high principle and patriotic sentiment, 
attempted to change the nature of the debate, to dis- 
figure it, to contract it to the proportions of a personal 
fray, by representing Thiers and Guizot as ambitious 
men, who opposed the government because they had 
been ousted from power, and this opposition as a sort of 
parliamentary and constitutional Fronde. The Journal 
des Debats, developing this idea, and pretending to see 
no difference between the policy of the Cabinet and that 
which the two ex-ministers had followed, published, the 
very day the discussion began, one of the bitterest and 
most caustic articles that ever came from the pen of 
Saint-Marc Girardin.* Here is a portion of the article: 

" We hear people ask concerning the Coalition, vio- 
lent measures and the refusal of co-operation. What is 
the matter? M. Thiers and M. Guizot are not ministers. 
* * * What is different to-day ? One thing, but one 



* Girardin (1801-1873), celebrated professor, writer, journalist and politi- 
cian ; became deputy in 1871. His articles in the Debats and in the Revue 
des Deux Mondes made him famous. This article, though not signed, is 
clearly the work of M. Girardin. 



84 Life of Thiers. [1838-39. 

single thing: M. Guizot and M. Thiers are not ministers. 
That's all there is of it. Antwerp, Poland, Switzerland, 
the conversion of funds, the maxim : ' the King reigns 
but does not govern,' the Coalition, the Address, all tend 
towards this same end : M. Thiers and M. Guizot must 
be ministers." 

Guizot, who had perhaps just read the article of the 
Journal des Debats before entering the tribune, took up 
the accusation, and citing the words of Tacitus, omnia 
serviliter pro dominatione, hurled back the taunt that had 
been flung at him by giving M. Mole to understand that 
in his case ambition was aggravated by servility. Thiers, 
who spoke after M. Mole, thought fit to refer to the 
article of the Debats, but his words were less bitter. 
He limited his remarks to what everybody knew, namely, 
that he had resigned of his own free will ; that he 
might have entered the new Cabinet if he had wished; 
that he had been an opponent of the present policy 
even in the councils of the Crown. But Thiers, to 
speak only of him, did not stoop in this debate to irritat- 
ing personalities, and immediately elevated the tone of 
the discussion by placing it on its true ground, and keep- 
ing it there. 

M. Doudan, the preceptor of the Duke de Broglie, one 
of the most talented men of an epoch and a society 
where talent was not lacking, called Thiers " the intestine 
agitator of assemblies." Thiers possessed in a high de- 
gree the art of producing an agitation in an assembly, 



Mr. 41-42.] The yuly Monarchy. 85 

of keeping it up, of throwing life into it ; but the agita- 
tions of his making were not aimless, not futile. Thiers 
never lost himself like Guizot, to use the expression of 
Cousin concerning the latter, in sterility. He always had 
an object, an end in view. The agitation that he created 
was always associated with a clear, precise line of policy, 
and he knew how to always keep it within fixed limits. 

The situation, as developed by the Mole ministry, was 
very simple ; the Cabinet had become the instrument of 
the King's policy, and this policy, the character of which 
was to yield too much abroad and to concede only with 
bad grace at home, appeared to everybody — even to the 
most enlightened friends of the Government itself — to be 
fatal. It was necessary, therefore, to change it, and to 
substitute for it a policy which should be firmer and 
more national abroad and at home more liberal, more in 
conformity with the spirit of the revolution of 1830, 
which was made against personal government ; more in 
conformity, also, with the best interests of royalty, which 
was weakened and compromised whenever it overstepped 
its bounds. The whole discussion concerning the policy 
of the Mole ministry that occurred at this time in the 
Chamber, which reechoed with the eloquence of Thiers, 
Guizot, Berryer, Lamartine, Odillon Barrot, Garnier-Pages, 
etc., was, in the numerous speeches made by Thiers, con- 
fined to this line of argument. From his speech deliv- 
ered on October 7th, 1839, we make a few extracts, which 
show his independence in regard to the Crown and the 



85 Life of Thiers. [1839-40. 

elevated reason for his resistance to the Crown when he 
was led to oppose it. His words should be remembered, 
for in them lies the secret of Thiers's opposition from 
1840 to 1848. 

"Gentlemen, it is not true that the hearts of these 
men (members of the Coalition) have been alienated ; 
they are devoted, but in their own way. Yes, gentle- 
men, there are two ways of being devoted, two good ex- 
amples of which are known to you. One way is to 
always serve the government, even when it is in the 
wrong; not to dare to tell it the truth, not to have the 
courage to break with it. There is another kind of de- 
votion which is much better, a devotion which would 
always save governments, if it were always practiced. » It 
consists in being independent of the government, in tell- 
ing it the truth, in not following it when it errs. * 
The mistake of all the governments which have pre- 
ceded us lay in their not knowing how to stop, in their 
going too far. The Revolution, which came to reform 
the country, covered it with ruins. The Empire, which 
ought to have given us order and victory, left us despot- 
ism and defeat. The Restoration, which would recon- 
cile the ancient monarchy with liberty, ended by the 
coup d'etat and divine right. Our own Government does 
not seem to know where to stop." 

The Coalition finally triumphed on March 1st, 1840, 
when the Mole ministry fell. The Chamber had dis- 
solved and the electors had been consulted. The maxim 



jet. 41-42.] The July Monarchy. 87 

"the King reigns, but does not govern," was again vic- 
torious. But the success of the Coalition did not put an 
end to the"crisis. It called for a ministry composed of 
Guizot, Thiers and Odillon Barrot. But Guizot and 
Odillon Barrot were too widely separated, Thiers and 
Guizot could unite, but the Left and the Left-Centre 
would not listen to it, remembering Guizot's obstinacy 
in carrying out the policy of repression that the Coal- 
ition had done so much to crush. Furthermore, the 
King, though vanquished, did not like his conquerors, 
and he would not accept the radical Left. " God only 
knows whither the soldiers are leading their chiefs," he 
said one day to Guizot. In the midst of this political 
confusion, a republican insurrection broke out which 
created more excitement in a few hours than the parlia- 
mentary agitations had done in two months. The King 
tried to set up a compromise ministry but failed, He 
was forced by circumstances to call on Thiers, who 
seemed to be the only person who could bring order 
out of the parliamentary chaos which was growing worse. 
The King did not like Thiers, and it was a bitter neces- 
sity which drove him to the man who had done so much 
to make him a king. " I sign my humiliation to-mor- 
row," Louis-Philippe remarked on February 28th, 1840. 
He had no thoughts of a coup d'etat, no intentions of 
reisting openly the majority in the Chamber. He con- 
fined himself to manifestations of bad temper. Thiers 
being somewhat embarrassed to find a minister of finan- 



88 Life of Thiers. [1832-39. 

ces, the King said, " He need not bother himself about 
that; let M. Thiers present to me one of the ministerial 
ushers; I give up." In the new ministry, — the ministry 
of March 1st, 1840 — Thiers was made President of the 
Council, with the portfolio of Foreign Affairs. 

Before leaving this period of Thiers's life, we wish to 
recall the most important acts of his two ministries, which 
we have had to pass by, in order to show more clearly 
the regular development of his dominant thought. Nor 
can we neglect to speak of his employment of the leisure 
moments that he was able to snatch from militant poli- 
tics, of the opinion that the public had of him, and of 
the noise that his name produced, for all this forms a 
part not only of his own history, but of the history of 
his time. 

The political events of the early part of Louis-Philippe's 
reign had left commerce and industry in a lamentable con- 
dition. The great public works were interrupted. The 
highways, the canals, the light-houses along the coast, all 
demanded immediate attention. In Paris there was 
no work. At this crisis Thiers became Minister of Com- 
merce and Public Works. He forthwith called the at- 
tention of the Chamber to this crying condition of affairs, 
and obtained twenty millions of dollars to be applied to 
public improvements. Then it was that the Arc de 
Triomphe and the Madeleine were completed, that the 
column in the Place Vendome was inaugurated. Yet 
manv monuments remained unfinished. Paris demanded 



jet. 34-41.] The July Monarchy. 89 

new embellishments. When Thiers became Premier in 
1836, his first act was to ask for new appropriations to 
meet the necessary expenses. The Column of July and 
the principal adornments of the Place de la Concorde 
were the result of this demand. 

Amid the many duties imposed by public life, amid 
the agitations, complications and struggles of this stormy 
epoch, Thiers seems to have found time, even in that 
terrible year of 1834, disturbed as it was by insurrections, 
to obtain admittance into the French Academy, and to 
deliver on that occasion a remarkable discourse ; to visit 
England in 1833 for the purpose of studying industrial 
and commercial subjects ; and to sketch the History of 
the Consulate and Empire. 

On June 9th, 1839, the day after a great debate, in 
which Thiers took a prominent part, the newspapers 
made the following announcement : 

" M. Thiers has just concluded with Paulin, the pub- 
lisher, an arrangement for the publication of the History 
of the Consulate and Empire, a continuation of his History 
of the French Revolution. M. Paulin has secured a per- 
petual right to the MS. of M. Thiers by the payment of 
$100,000, $80,000 to be paid on the delivery of the MS., 
and $20,000 a year later." Talleyrand said, a propos of the 
History of the French Revolution : " Thiers would perhaps 
be still more happy if he should take up the Empire." 
Perhaps it was this remark of the illustrious diplomate 
that suggested to Thiers his great history. 



90 Life of Thiers. L1832-39. 

Thiers, with antecedents such as were his, after his 
active and important role in politics for near twenty years 
after the prominent part that he took in the revolution 
of 1830, could not but occupy a great position in the 
eyes of the public. The legitimists were vanquished 
probably forever; the republicans were awed, though 
trembling less from fear than hope ; royalty was advised 
to keep its proper place, if it would not compromise its 
mission and existence. Enemies would of necessity rise 
up against the man, who more than any other had con- 
tributed to such results. No one can escape destiny and 
human nature. Talleyrand said to Thiers on one occa- 
sion, " Would you be a man? Have lots of enemies." 
And Thiers followed his advice. Thiers said one evening 
in 1865 — if we are not mistaken, in his parlor in the 
Place St. Georges, a propos of some impertinence of the 
courtiers of the time : " I am an old umbrella which has 
been subjected to many showers, and much misuse ; you 
can't expect anything else in stormy times and civil 
war." Insults of all kinds were heaped upon Thiers, 
particularly during those periods when he was in power 
or opposed to the Government. It would require more 
than one folio to enumerate them. From the countless 
number we select but two, which are by no means the 
worst. A very radical journal said one day : " We have 
a kind of ogre among us called Louis-Philippe, and a 
sort of Tom Thumb, named Thiers." An extreme royal- 



jet. 34-41.] The July Monarchy. 91 

ist sheet, attributing to Thiers an over-great love of the 
"almighty dollar," remarked: "We understand that 
M. Thiers is going to make a trip to Auvergne. 
Auvergnats, look out lest he carry off the Mont 
d'Or!" 



CHAPTER IV. 
THE RIVALRY OF THIERS AND GUIZOT — 1840-1848. 

Guizot wrote the following lines concerning Thiers, at 
the time of the formation in the Chamber of Deputies 
of what was called the Thiers-parti, which was made up of 
Liberals friendly to the dynasty : 

" It is a characteristic of Thiers's nature, which, it 
seems to me, has betrayed him more than once, not to 
put enough confidence in his own powers, not to depend 
sufficiently on himself and himself alone, and to allow 
himself to be influenced too much by the desire of avoid- 
ing the criticism of the party which has been his political 
cradle. His judgment and his tastes mark him a states- 
man, which is rarely the case with individuals sprung 
from the ranks in which he has always lived. Hence it re- 
sults, that between his station and his inclination, between 
the course of his life and the instincts of his mind, there 
is a discord which has often been to him a source of 
embarrassment and a cause of feebleness. If he had 
been more under the influence of a just pride, if he had 
more of a mind and will of his own, he would, I think, 
have better governed his own and his country's destiny ; 
for he would have found in his independence much more 



/Et. 43-] Rivalry of Thiers and Guizot. 93 

strength than he could derive from the support of the 
revolutionary and fluctuating party with which he was 
associated/'* 

It is impossible to read these lines without profound 
astonishment. One believes himself dreaming to hear a 
man of such intellectual parts speaking in this wise. To 
represent Thiers as a man who lacks confidence in his 
own powers, above all, who does not rely sufficiently on 
himself, who has not a firm mind and will, is to produce the 
strangest paradox imaginable, and the most contrary to 
the truth. In order to explain such a mistaken apprecia- 
tion, it is necessary to bear in mind the influence of the 
spirit of sect and system, the blindness of vanity and 
the bitterness of an old rivalry ; it is especially important 
to remember— for Guizot was not an ordinary man — 
that he had an unlimited confidence in the value of his 
own theories, and that he believed in their infallibility, if 
not, which is uncertain, in his own. Now, there was an 
essential difference between Guizot's theories and Thiers's 
manner of looking at political questions, and this differ- 
ence sufficed to ruffle the serenity of the judge's mind 
and cause him to give a biased opinion. 

Let us consider this difference for a moment. With 
Guizot, everything was based on his theory of the 
middle classes and the legal nation.^ The pre- 



* Memoires de Guizot, T. III., p. 290. 

f To be an elector at this period it was necessary to pay taxes amount- 
ing to 200 francs, about $40.00. The whole body of electors, according to 
Guizot, made up the legal nation {pays legal.) 



94 Life of Thiers. [ l840 . 

ponderance of power appertained to the bourgeoisie, 
or middle classes. There was no political or legal 
France outside of the electoral body. No one was 
a legal Frenchman unless he paid a tax of 200 francs. 
Guizot did not depart from this rule. He took up a 
position in this theory as if in a fortress. From his 
ramparts, from this belvedere, so to speak, he contem- 
plated the outside world, judged society, and pretended 
to govern it. To rule by means of the middle classes, to 
satisfy their interests and wants, to give to the country 
only the measure of liberty, air and light that this new 
aristocracy demanded, and that its temperament was able 
to support, to found a constitutional monarchy on this 
unique base, narrow as it was, such was Guizot's object, 
his dominant idea, the pivot of his policy. Thiers, with- 
out rejecting the principle, while also placing the axis of 
government in the middle classes, in the bourgeoisie, 
wished to strengthen the prop, to enlarge more and more 
the base of the system by accepting the co-operation of 
all those who sprang from the same principle, who had 
the same origin, namely, the French Revolution. For he 
was persuaded that the July Government would never be 
in a condition to face its veritable enemies, the legiti- 
mists and the clergy, if it were also opposed by all the 
ardent liberals and republicans. 

There was still another difference between Thiers and 
Guizot : the latter held firmly to a pacific policy, as did 
the King ; the former, led by a desire to firmly establish 



/Et. 43. J Rivalry of Thiers and Guizot. 95 

the new government and to support the dignity of France, 
did not draw back before the contingencies of war, even a 
great war, if it were rendered necessary by the country's 
honor and the interests of the Revolution of 1789, 

Thiers, with these ideas, entered in 1840 into the coun- 
cils of the Crown, with the intention of carrying them 
out. He exclaimed one day in one of those sallies which 
were common to him, " I am not liberal ; I am national." 
This was true of him in the ministry of the nth of Oc- 
tober, 1833, but now he wished to be both, and if he was 
more one than the other, if the dominant character of 
the cabinet of the 1st of March, 1840, was national, it 
was due more to circumstances than to his own feelings 
in the matter. 

The task that Thiers proposed to himself in assuming 
the direction of affairs, particularly when we consider the 
impulse and character that he wished to give to them, 
was difficult if not rash. He had to bring the King over 
to a foreign policy, which. Louis-Philippe always looked 
upon with trembling. He had to conquer a considerable 
part of the old majority which favored the King's policy, 
simply because it was the King's. Even the majority on 
which he counted, and which he had to have to govern, 
was neither compact nor sure, and a goodly number of 
his allies followed him less on account of himself than in 
order to check the Government. Accord was, however, 
possible among the different branches of government 
concerning domestic affairs. 



96 Life of Thiers. ^840. 

No great domestic question at this moment divided 
public opinion. But this was not the case with foreign 
relations. On the occasion of a conflict between the 
Pasha of Egypt, Mehemet Ali, and the Sultan Mahmoud, 
the Eastern question was about to reappear, to bring 
face to face the peace policy of the King and the war 
policy of Thiers, and the Chamber was to be called upon 
to pronounce between them. 

According to Thiers— and we would lay stress upon 
this point — the chief concern of France ought to be her 
foreign relations. The independence and honor of the 
country should never be lost sight of in the interest of 
domestic peace and the dynasty. Thiers saw everywhere 
the seeds of war : in the ambition of certain powers, in 
the nature of the governments, and in the agitations of 
the peoples, and he knew too well that, whatever ques- 
tion might be raised, France would be sooner or later 
drawn into it, either from necessity or duty. There re- 
resulted from this, these two things : first, that patriotism 
was a very important virtue for France, and that along 
with patriotism there should be foresight ; and secondly, 
that it was the bounden duty of every government re- 
gardful of its mission, to always keep alive the military 
spirit — not the spirit of conquest — that France might be 
always ready for emergencies. 

To understand Thiers and his ministry of 1840, and 
even the greater part of his writings, this fact should 
be born in mind. The History of the Consulate and 



/Et.33 ] Rivalry of Thiers and Guizot. 97 

Empire is pervaded by this idea. To keep the patriotism 
of France ever on the alert, to quicken this patriotism by- 
lessons from history, by the great examples of the past, 
so that the country should always be equal to whatever 
complications and necessities might arise, this, in Thiers's 
mind, was one of the first duties of the statesman. Po- 
litical, constitutional, material, moral questions should be 
considered also, but afterwards. The soul of France 
should be gotten ready before its armor, and put into a 
condition to bear it. The situation of the hour argued 
in favor of this line of policy, for, as we have said, the 
irrepressible Eastern question was threatening the peace 
of Europe. 

Marshal Maison, one of the generals of the first Em- 
pire, died a few days before the formation of the ministry 
of March 1st, 1840, of which Thiers was Prime Minister. 
Invited to speak at the grave, Thiers delivered an eloquent 
oration, which is an earnest expression of the ruling idea 
that we have referred to. In one part of this speech he 
exclaimed : " Of all the grandeur of the Revolutionary 
period, what remains to us ? Nothing of that national 
grandeur which spread from the plains of Italy to those 
of Holland ; but the moral grandeur of its memories, 
which lives imperishably in history, which will inflame 
future generations, and make them worthy of the past ; 
this grandeur has come down to us intact. Let us pre- 
serve it as the most precious heritage. It is the memory 
of the lofty deeds of our warriors which. should. sustain 



98 Life of Thiers. [1S40. 

our young soldiers if their courage is put to the test. 
They should try to equal the soldiers of Kleber, of Mas- 
sena, of Bonaparte ! " 

It was also with this same object in view, that he took 
the initiative in a measure which had been often agitated, 
the translation of the remains of Napoleon from Saint 
Helena to France. Of course international reconciliation 
was another motive that influenced Thiers. But the aims 
were not contradictory : the desire to efface past hatreds 
does not interdict care for the future, nor the duty of 
providing against their return. Yet at this very moment — 
and we mention the incident simply to show how much 
there is that is capricious and unforeseen in French politi- 
cal life — while the Prince de Joinville, the son of Louis- 
Philippe, with two French war vessels was traversing the 
ocean to bring home the dust of the great Emperor, 
the illegitimate* adventurer — " Napoleon the Little," as 
Victor Hugo happily terms him who afterwards became 
Napoleon III — made his absurd fiasco at Boulogne. 

Those who like to believe that history is but a game of 
chance, and who are prone to descant upon the uncertainty 
of fate, can find here matter for the support of their skepti- 
cal philosophy. Here was a government which wished 
to pay homage to a national glory, and to draw therefrom 
new force and strength both for itself and the country ; 

* It is now an opinion widely held that Louis Napoleon was not a Bona- 
parte, but the son of a Dutch marine officer, Admiral Verhuell, one of the 
numerous lovers of Queen Hortense. See the posthumous article of Sainte- 
Beuve. Cccsar and ike Ccvsars. 



jet. 43.] Rivalry of Thiers and Guizot. 99 

and yet, at the same time, this country's heir, more or less 
legitimate, made use of this glory against the govern- 
ment which proclaimed it, converting it, so to speak, into 
a hostile banner, a machine of war. And not less 
strange, perhaps, was the incident of France and England, 
seeking, in honoring a great name, to bury old grudges, 
and yet, at this precise moment, entering on a path which 
threatened to lead them to new wars. 

But these coincidences, arising from chance, did not 
occupy in an equal degree public opinion or the thoughts 
o' Thiers. The Eastern question gave rise to graver con- 
siderations than that of the abortive demonstration at 
Boulogne. But, nevertheless, this episode can not be 
passed by in silence : the pretender had assigned Thiers 
a part in his projects and in his dreams ; and, further, was not 
this affair connected by an invisible link with events in 
which Thiers was to be found to act more than once an 
important part ? Was not the second Empire conceived 
of these early pronnnciamientos ? 

The attempt at Boulogne had been preceded by that 
of Strasburg on October 30th, 1836. The King's weakness 
had sheltered the pretender from justice and transported 
him to America. Exile never reforms a person : Louis 
Napoleon soon left the United States and took refuge 
in England, where he meditated new enterprises. Did he 
count on the unpopularity of the Government, which was, 
by the way, exaggerated? On the difficulties of its 
foreign policy ? On the co-operation, foolishly presumed, 



ioo Life of Thiers. [ I 8 40 . 

or the connivance of the statesman who stood at the 
head of the Cabinet, and who, he knew, was a great ad- 
mirer of his uncle ? However this may be, on August 
6th, 1840, he disembarked near Boulogne, accompanied 
by some devoted friends and servitors. Having en- 
tered the city about five o'clock in the morning, he 
presented himself at the barracks of the garrison, where 
he tempted the soldiers and officers with offers of money 
and promotions. There was at first, among the troops 
and in the city, a little confusion and disorder ; but this 
lasted only a short time. The troops shrugged their 
shoulders, and the sub-prefect promptly arrested a 
majority of the companions of the prince. The audacious 
adventurer, however, had counted on success, and had 
prepared in advance a series of decrees, with the in- 
tention of organizing in a moment a new government. 
Among these curious papers there was one which named 
Thiers President of the Council of Ministers. 

The pretender had deceived himself concerning Thiers 
and the country. Thiers saw in Napoleon I a great warrior 
and a powerful administrator,who was made for the time in 
which he arose, a sort of splendid and isolated meteor, at 
first useful, then fatal to others as well as to himself, and 
who could be followed through the heavens of history by 
the brilliant track he had left behind, but who had no suc- 
cessor, and who had nothing to do with an age of liberty. 
The Empire without the Emperor never appeared possi- 
ble or desirable to Thiers. The immense majority of the 



Mt. 43.] Rivalry of Thiers and Guizot. 101 

people at that time felt in the same way. In certain dis- 
tricts, the interests of the nation were confounded with 
those of the Empire, for its wild dreams had been forgot- 
ten and only its glories remembered. But there was no 
desire, however, on the part of these worshippers of the 
first Napoleon, to lend themselves to the projects of a 
young and ambitious upstart, and to stir up a revolution 
on his account. The Journal des Debats said in reference 
to the Strasburg fiasco : " The first thing that strikes 
one in the Strasburg affair, is the impertinent folly of 
the enterprise, the incredible presumption of a young man 
who, without any other title than his name, without other 
means of affecting people's minds than by the aid of a coat 
and hat ridiculously modeled after those of a great man, 
presumes one morning to put on a crown and enthrone 
himself Emperor and master of France." Lamartine, in 
a grand and magnificent oration delivered on January 
7th, 1837, said, referring to the folly of this enterprise, that 
" the Empire has left only a bronze column in a Paris 
square." And this was true. The adventure found credit 
only with some fanatics and a few corrupt and needy 
officers. The Boulogne enterprise was equally weak 
and foolish. Thiers was disturbed by it only in so far as it 
was a symptom of the state of the public mind, of the 
restlessness of the national spirit of the people which the 
timid course of the King did not satisfy ; it was one more 
reason for strengthening the dynasty by some of that 
military glory of which the first Empire was as prodigal 



102 Life of Thiers. [1839-40, 

as the July Monarchy was parsimonious. He saw that 
his foreign policy might lead to war, but he also saw that 
if the war were successful or only nobly supported, it 
would exalt the cause of constitutional monarchy and 
give it a prestige that would stand all pretensions and all 
pretenders. 

The Eastern question was of long standing. Thiers 
found the crisis in an already advanced state when he 
came into office. The victory of Nezib, in Northern Syria, 
June 24th, 1839, gained by Ibrahim Pasha, son of Mehemet 
Ali, Pasha of Egypt, over the troops of the Sultan, had in. 
creased the pretensions of the rebel vassal. He demanded, 
as the price of the victory, that he be made the hereditary 
ruler of Egypt and Syria. This was, in the opinion of 
England, prejudicial to the integrity of the Ottoman 
Empire ; for France, on the other hand, it was the forti- 
fying of this empire, for she believed the real soul of the 
Turkish power to be, not at Constantinople, but at Alex- 
andria. France knew, also, that Mehemet Ali was not 
at all disposed to yield, and she feared that a prolon- 
gation of the struggle would give the finishing stroke to 
"the sick man" — as the Czar once called the Sultan — 
whom England and France, however, had an equal inter- 
est, an equal desire to save. Marshal Soult, who was 
President of the Council and Minister of Foreign Affairs 
before Thiers came into office, wrote, on February 19th, 
1840, to Guizot, the ambassador of France at London: 
"The government of the King has held and holds still 



jet. 42-43.] Rivalry of Thiers and Guizot. 103 

that, considering the position in which Mehemet Ali 
finds himself, to offer him less than the hereditary right 
to the thrones of Egypt and Syria would be to run the 
risk of a certain refusal on his part, which he would 
back, if necessary, by a desperate resistance, whose con- 
sequence would shake and perhaps overturn the Otto- 
man Empire." Another circumstance aggravated the 
already complicated question : a few days after the bat- 
tle of Nezib, it was decided by a diplomatic note that the 
trouble should be settled by the great Powers acting in 
concert. 

Thiers — become Premier — thus hemmed in, at first 
quietly strove against the situation, not wishing to sac- 
rifice the Pasha nor to break with the Powers. He 
worked, in the first place, to avoid a conference where he 
was almost sure to have the others against him, and, in 
the second place, to bring about an understanding be- 
tween the Sultan and Pasha. It was a difficult job. 
Thiers wrote Guizot at London, on July 16th, 1840, a 
letter which terminated with these words: "You and I 
have never got into a worse dilemma ; but we could not 
do otherwise. In the beginning, we might have pursued 
a different course, but since the treaty of July 27th, 1839,* 
this is out of the question." He hoped, however, to get 
out of the dangerous dilemma, when he suddenly learned 
that the question had been settled without consulting 

*This treaty, made between England, France, Austria and Russia, 
placed the defence and integrity of Turkey under the protection of these 
Powers. 



104 Life of Thiers. [ I 8 40 . 

France, on the overtures of Lord Palmerston, and that 
Mehemet Ali was to be forced to give up all claims to 
Syria; the treaty of July 15th, 1840, between Russia, 
England, Austria, and Prussia, had been signed. 

France, thus excluded unceremoniously from the Eu- 
ropean concert, was keenly wounded. The blame was 
laid especially on England, who was looked upon as the 
ally of France. The old sores reopened. M. de La- 
vergne* wrote to Guizot at this moment, "The public 
mind is extremely bellicose." The band of the National 
Guard played the Marseillaise in the ears of the King at 
the Tuileries. At the opera, this refrain of a chorus 
in a new opera, Charles VI, was received with frantic 

applause : 

Non, non, jamais en France, 
Jamais l'Anglais ne regnera.f 

This song was continually heard in the concerts and in 
the streets. All the organs of public opinion, with rare 
exceptions, were for war. The sons of the King leaned 
that way. Alfred de Musset, the poet, a frequenter of 
the Tuileries and a personal friend of the heir apparent, 
the Duke of Orleans, improvised, in a court soiree, it is 
said, a war song in response to a new song of Becker, 
the German poet, entitled The German RJiine.\ 

* M. de Levergne, born in 1809, to-day life senator ; friend of Guizot, 
member of the Academy of Moral and Political Sciences, an able writer on 
economic subjects, and in politics a strong conservative. 
f No, no, never in France, 
Never will the English reign. 
\ The German poet had said, 

" They shall not have it, our German Rhine." 



jet. 43.] Rivalry of Thiers and Guizot. io5 

Thiers was not less keenly affected. He was greatly 
irritated, above all, at Lord Palmerston. He called his 
proceeding a " deception." He wrote Guizot on July 
2 1st, 1840: "France to-day has only to consider her own 
convenience," and he did not intend to suffer himself to 
be held in check. He thought he had been outraged. 
He sent to the Powers a very strong note, in which he 
protested against what had been accomplished. He was 
almost as greatly irritated at Austria as at England, find- 
ing no longer in its policy the wisdom of Metternich. 
The Austrian ambassador at Paris insisted that Syria 
was of little importance to France. "Yes, without 
doubt," responded Thiers, sharply; "of course we will 
for no consideration make a campaign in Syria ; for Italy 
is better, and she is nearer ! " This was a threat at Austrian 
influence in Italy. War, therefore, appeared to him an al- 
most inevitable necessity, for which it was important that 
he should be prepared. The treaty of July 15th, 1840, how- 
ever, was carried out. On September 1 ith, Beyrout, an im- 
portant seaport of Syria, was bombarded by the united 
fleets of England and Austria, before the eyes of the sailors 
of the French fleet, unable to understand, said* an officer, 
" why their cannon did not go off of themselves." On Sep- 
tember 14th, 1840, Mehemet Ali was conquered. Thiers's 
ardor was not extinguished. He prepared to augment 
the army. Infantry, cavalry, artillery, all were increased. 

De Musset replied proudly, 

" We have had it, your German Rhine." 
Lamartine also answered Becker, in his Maiseillaise de la paix. 



106 Life of Thiers. [1840. 

Thiers proposed to raise the effective force to six hun- 
dred and thirty-five thousand men, and to mobilize three 
hundred thousand men of the National Guard. Thus 
prepared and decided, he wrote in a diplomatic note: 
" If you take Egypt from the Pasha, the cannon will 
decide between us." 

In the meanwhile, the French fleet, anchored before 
Beyrout was ordered home. The enemies of Thiers called 
this feebleness, and the charge has often been reiterated. 
In truth, it was but an act of prudence. In the event of 
a war, the government wished to have all its strength 
at hand within its grasp. So earnest was Thiers, so far 
was he from doing an act of weakness, that he proposed 
introducing the war question into the customary Speech 
from the Throne. 

It was a solemn moment for the King and his dynasty. 
If Thiers's policy had prevailed in the councils of the 
Crown, the whole course of events which have happened 
since, the disastrous experiment of 1848, the twenty 
years of despotism that followed, with the terrible end 
whose consequences have not yet disappeared, — might not 
all this have been avoided? But it was fated that, at 
the supreme moment, the King should recoil. When 
the question came up before the cabinet, during the 
discussion concerning the Speech from the Throne, the 
diversity of opinion between the King and the minister 
showed itself. Thiers wished that the language of the 
King should energetically support the conduct of the 



jet. 43. J Rivalry of Thiers and Guizot. 107 

ministry. The King proposed a compromise. Thiers, 
fatigued, and fearing that the Chamber would side with 
the King, handed in his resignation, as did all of his col- 
leagues. This was on October 29th, 1840. 

It will be remembered* that in Thiers's earlier connec- 
tion with the July Government, he was not unmindful of 
the internal improvements of the country, and during 
his short ministry of 1840, material as well as political 
questions received his closest attention. The hesitation 
that he had formerly shown concerning the importance 
of railroads — a hesitation which malevolence has trans- 
formed into ignorance and old fogyism — had now long 
passed away, and he hastened to atone for his mistake. 
He caused a subsidy of about nine millions of dollars to 
be voted for the construction of several railroad lines. 
He encouraged steam navigation, and presented to the 
Chamber bills for the establishment of several great 
packet lines, three out of four of which were to be fur- 
nished with eighteen vessels constructed in the State 
ship-yards, and capable, if necessary, of carrying guns. 
The abolition of the monopoly of the manufacture of 
salt, the development of the trade in thermal waters, 
and several other matters of interest to commerce and 
industry were considered or carried out under Thiers's 
administration. 

On the same day that Thiers resigned, Guizot was 
gazetted President of the Council of Ministers. Here be- 

* See Chapter III, page 88. 



108 Life of Thiers. Qis^o. 

gins the strife between Thiers and Guizot, an ardent and 
bitter struggle, which was ended by the fall of the July- 
Monarchy and the advent of the Republic of 1848. 

Guizot's conduct, in accepting office at this time, has 
been severely criticised. He has been accused of having, 
while French Minister at London, deceived Thiers and 
then of having supplanted him. The keen remark of 
Royer-Collard is well known: "You called Guizot an 
austere intriguer?" somebody asked him. "Did I say 
austere ? " responded the terrible old man. This remark, 
already in circulation, was now taken up and repeated 
everywhere. The words of the Journal des Debats, 
which were a commentary on it, were quoted again ; 
" Our support you (Guizot) can have, our esteem, never." 
From this period dates the immense unpopularity 
which followed Guizot until the destruction of the 
monarchy, and which contributed not a little to precipi- 
tate it. 

Is the reproach true that Guizot, while French Am- 
bassador at London, acted in opposition to the instruct- 
ions of his minister and the principles of parliamentary 
government, and obeyed the personal policy of the 
King? In this connection we will simply recall the fact 
that Thiers wrote to his ambassador on March 2nd, 1840, 
the day after he became President of the Council, " on 
leaving Paris you declared to me in the Salle des Confer- 
ences that your foreign policy was mine ; " that Guizot 
admitted that he occupied, while Minister at London, 



jet. 43.] Rivalry of Thiers and Guizot. 109 

" as regards the war, a decisive position ; " * that Lord 
Palmerston, however badly disposed towards France he 
might be, could be arrested by the Tory party, whose 
principle personage, Lord Wellington, said, " nothing can 
be done without France , war is at hand, we desire 
peace ; therefore, it is necessary to be on good terms with 
France." f " It is also certain " — it is Guizot himself who 
says so — " that Austria and Prussia did not hold to the 
policy of war ; " X an d that Lord Palmerston would have 
shown less obstinacy if he had believed that France 
would go to extremities. 

It is at least inexcusable in Guizot, that he did not see 
the impropriety of his being the successor of a man 
whose policy he was supposed to have favored, and of 
forthwith adopting a policy of an exactly contrary nature. 
Guizot did not like Thiers, and — not to speak of feelings 
of jealousy and rivalry — he often imputed to Thiers inten- 
tions and sentiments which had no foundation in fact. 
Guizot, while Minister at London, wrote to one of his 
friends apropos of the translation of Napoleon's remains: 
" I notice without surprise the art with which the minis- 
terial organs or those of the Left have avoided speaking 
of me in this affair. This will continue, though I have 
been written to that,' if we succeed in this affair,we will give 
you all the honor of it. ' " § To suppose that Thiers would 

* Me'moires de Guizot, T. V. p. 20. 
f Id. p. 370. 
% Id. p. 364. 
£ Id. p. 118. 



no Life of Thiers. [ t84a 

descend to such petty acts can not be excused on the 
ground that the injuries of the one atone for the injuries 
of the other. The ambassador ought to have dominated 
over the man. The simplest sentiment of decorum would 
have counseled him to follow his chief into retirement 
and to check his ambition for a time. But there were 
many audacious actions and many defects of conscience 
hidden under the Puritanical gravity of Guizot. 

M. Odillon Barrot, the brilliant orator of the Left, in a 
scathing speech, characterizes Guizot's conduct in this 
affair after this manner : " Henceforth, men will say,' who 
will feel safe in the direction of the Government, when a 
minister, having chosen a foreign representative from the 
Chamber and having confided to him not only official 
documents but his most private thoughts, suddenly sees 
this representative rat, mount this tribune to lay bare be- 
fore this country and the world the unfortunate spectacle 
of such an antagonism, and even take advantage of docu- 
ments wherein are disclosed the confidential opinions of 
the minister? ' Do you ask my opinion ? You, the ambas- 
sador of this policy, the intimate confidant of the author 
of this policy, you are the last man to replace the minis- 
ter who was carrying it out." 

Thiers, throughout the discussion of the Address which 
followed the change of ministry and in which Guizot was 
so roughly handled by the Opposition, defended his policy 
with his customary vigor and frankness. But the most 
important feature of this apology, which had much more 



jet. 43.] Rivalry of Thiers and Guizot. 1 1 1 

to do with his acts than with his relations with his 
ambassador, was the direct attack which he made on the 
Crown. For, according to Thiers, more serious than the 
question of external politics, was the sacredness of the 
Constitution, which had been violated, if not in its letter, 
at least in its spirit. Personal government had reap- 
peared : the fall of the ministry of March 1st, 1840, was 
caused by a new and graver act than any that had pre- 
ceded it, was due to a single will. Called upon by the at- 
tacks of the partisans of the war to explain the inaction of 
the last days of his ministry, he made this declaration 
which pointed right to the King : "If the 29th of October* 
replaced the 1st of March, it was because the 1st of 
March was not able to obtain the measures that it judged 
necessary." 

This was a Parthian arrow. Thiers went on to bury it 
deeper in the side of royalty, but not with the design of 
killing royalty. Thiers never had but one enemy — per- 
sonal government, because he never had but one idol — 
the French Revolution, to which personal government is 
more than the antithesis. But this enemy he pursued,what- 
ever form it assumed, by whatever good intentions dis- 
guised. In denouncing its presence in the working of 
the Constitution, he desired to defend and strengthen the 
Constitution. There is nothing less revolutionary in 
France than respect for the Revolution. 

Thus Thiers found himself again at the head of the 

* The Ministry of Guizot, which lasted until the revolution of 1848. 



1 1 2 Life of Thiers. [ts^. 

dynastic Opposition, forced by the very nature of this 
principle to form a new coalition which should be more 
ardent, more impassioned than the old. It was also to 
have a slower growth and another and more redoubtable 
result. Thirty years were to pass before its chief was to 
return to power, to reappear in the tribune and speak in 
the name of a government ! 

Some of the measures of his ministry were not entirely 
accomplished when he retired. The solemn reception 
of the remains of Napoleon did not take place until 
December 15th, 1840, and the appropriation for the 
construction of the fortifications of Paris were not voted 
until the month following. 

This latter project gave rise to a great and memorable 
debate in which the principal orators of the day par- 
ticipated. The enemies of the Government and the 
Cabinet held that the scheme had for its object not so 
much the protection of the capital as its intimidation. 
Lamartine considered the plan useless, Garnier-Pages, 
dangerous. Thiers defended his project in an able and 
powerful speech. "Fortify the capital," he said, "and 
you greatly modify war and politics ; you render wars of 
invasion, that is to say, wars for principles, impracticable. 
* * * Suppose Paris defended by permanent works, 
by walls ; the conditions of war change immediately ; it 
is no longer a battle, it is a siege. But, an army, how- 
ever large it may be, cannot carry on a siege with its or- 
dinary resources. Special materials are necessary. Siege- 



/Et. 43.] Rivalry of Thiers mid Guizot. 1 1 3 

guns, which cannot be carried into the field, which are 
transported with difficulty in one's own country, and 
which are conveyed with great labor in an enemy's 
country, even after several successful campaigns have 
rendered one absolute master of it, — great siege-guns must 
be had. Again, an army must sit down before a fortified 
town for a number of days, which it cannot do for lack of 
victuals, munitions, and resources of every kind. * * * 
' But, for what purpose,* some ask, ' would you expose a 
million souls to the terrors of a siege, to the horrors of a 
bombardment, to the misery of starvation? How, in such 
extremities, can you govern them and restrain them ? 
How can you grasp in a sort of vice great capitals in 
which beats the heart of the country — the government, the 
chambers, the principal organs of the public ? What ! all 
this blockaded at one time ! Subjected to the severities 
of military rule ! The mind is frightened and recoils in 
horror at the thought of it.' These are phantoms which 
vanish as soon as approached. The moment that you 
render the capital capable of sustaining a siege, at that 
moment you deliver it from all the dangers of a siege. 

The walls of Paris,* therefore, stand as a monument of 
Thiers's rule of six months, a monument, which, if it has 
not fulfilled all his hopes, is none the less a part of his 
glory. It was a grand and patriotic conception, and the 

* The walls are about twenty-two miles in circumference, thirty-two, feet 
high, and have an average thickness of about twelve feet. A ditch fifty feet 
wide, which can be flooded with water, surrounds the \yaljs ou,the outside, 
while a broad macadamized military road follows the course of the fortifica- 
tions on the inside. It took three years to complete? this, irn,ija§iise.w.pi,"k. 



H4 Life of Thiers. [1840-45. 

recent events which have contradicted Thiers's theories, 
surpassed all human forethought in 1840. There is a sort 
of insanity in statesmen and in peoples which escapes all 
the powers of clairvoyance. The Krupp guns and the 
means of rapidly concentrating and victualing an army, 
which played so prominent a part in the war of 1870-71, 
might perhaps have been foreseen in 1840, but no one 
could have supposed that France would ever give herself 
up, bound hand and foot, to an adventurer, to be led into 
a suicidal war. 

Thiers, finding himself out of office, and convinced that 
he would not soon return to power, bent himself once 
more to literary pursuits. He had already collected con- 
siderable material for the History of the Consulate and 
Empire. With the curiosity and indefatigable industry 
of a man who, rising at six o'clock in the morning, ter- 
minates his most laborious days in society, he had 
reaped all the harvest that Paris could afford, and 
already a large part of his task, in so far as it concerned 
France, was done before it was commenced. But the 
scope of the work which he had outlined in his 
mind, did not embrace France alone : it included all 
Europe. He, therefore, visited Europe, studied the ar- 
chives, questioned illustrious survivors of the great epoch 
which he was describing, examined the celebrated battle- 
fields and the cities which had sustained memorable sieges, 
all the places famous in connection with the gigantic 
struggles j£ha£ he would portray. It is for this that he is 



jet. 43-48.] Rivalry of Thiers and Guizot. 1 1 5 

seen by turns in Italy, Germany, Spain and England 
from 1841 to 1845. At length, he was able to publish, 
during this last year, the first two volumes of the work, 
which embrace the Consular period. 

The success of the work was immense. The critics 
were not weary of praising it. Royer-Collard who, con- 
fining himself to the ancients, no longer readh\\\. simply 
re-read, as he liked to say, devoured Thiers's two new 
volumes. One day the latter, calling on him, found the 
old gentleman in his study. Pointing out to Thiers a 
volume of the Consulate and Empire lying on his table 
beside a volume of Plato and Tacitus, he said, " You see 
you are not in bad company." Thiers replied that he 
trembled at his situation. " Don't fear," was the 
response ; " you can hold your ground against every- 
body." " The remark is charming," says Sainte-Beuve, 
who recounts the anecdote, " and furthermore it is just, 
and of great weight from the mouth of a man who 
seldom paid compliments." Talleyrand had been a good 
prophet : the historian of the Revolution had in truth 
succeeded still better in dealing with the Empire. 

Neither literary work nor success, however, turned 
Thiers's attention from political affairs, which every day 
became more worthy of the attention of the friends of 
the Revolution. 

Guizot continued in his course, abandoning himself 
more and more to the policy of resistance at home and 
peace at any price abroad. " The spirit of the Emigra- f 



n6 Life of Thiers. [1840-44. 

tion and the Church," as the Journal des De'bats said one 
day, " killed the Restoration, and the July Revolution 
sprang from opposition to this very spirit." Yet Louis- 
Philippe seemed to have entirely forgotten this. In a 
word, as Thiers has said,* Catholic influence supplanted 
Protestant influence, and he entered upon this inauspi- 
cious period, having for standard-bearer and trumpeter 
an orthodox Protestant who was almost a Puritan. For it 
is Guizot who opened the door to ultramontane influence, 
and was to try to use it as an instrument of government, 
for a regime sprung from a liberal and patriotic revolu- 
tion, under the pretext of securing by its means good 
order, conciliation, pacification and the elevation of 
mankind ! 

Contradictions destroy themselves : the Government 
could not disregard the spirit of liberalism, its prime 
source of birth, without also disregarding that patriotic 
fermentation which was its secondary origin. Guizot and 
the King thought to become monarchial by favoring the 
religious spirit, to enter into the family of legitimate 
sovereigns, into the Holy Alliance, by pursuing a peace 
policy. The King carried his love of peace even to a 
degree of weakness. The English alliance, looked upon 
as the palladium of peace, was to be maintained at any 
price. Hence it was that France, against every prin- 
ciple, gave England the Right of Search, where French 
vessels were supposed to be slavers. The flag was al- 

*See Chapter III., p. 55 et seq. 



/Et. 43-47.] Rivalry of Thiers and Guizot. 1 1 7 

lowed to be insulted under color of philanthropy. Hence 
it was that the right of the United States to annex Texas 
was called into question in the name of a fanciful Ameri- 
can equilibrium, analogous to the famous theory of the 
Latin races, invented at a later period by the complaisant 
Napoleon III, in order to give plausibility to the foolish 
Mexican expedition. It was also this system of peace 
at any price that led the Government, on more than one 
occasion during the latter years of Louis-Philippe's reign, 
to suffer England to influence its action both in European 
and extra-European affairs, occasions that we are only too 
glad to pass over in silence. And it should also be borne 
in mind in this connection, that this senile policy did not 
even possess the merit of always being consistent. For, 
after having made for so long a time concessions to 
England, the Government, on a sudden, falls out with her 
a propos of the Spanish marriages and thus loses all the 
benefits of its sacrifices. It is true that there were two 
interests combined against the English interest : the \^S 
Catholic, which was kept restrained, and the family, the 
all-important interest, which controlled everything. 

Thiers, with that firmness of spirit and conviction, 
which we have recognized in him, could not— all interest 
of ambition and popularity aside — remain impassive in 
the presence of such a policy, or even appear to com- 
pound with it in the slightest way. However, from 1840 
to 1844 he rarely appeared in the tribune to combat it. 
But towards the end of 1844, the faults of the adminis- 



n8 Life of Thiers. [1844-46. 

tration increased in such an alarming manner, the system 
began to display itself in a series of acts in which the 
spirit of the Revolution and the interests of patriotism 
were so manifestly disregarded, that Thiers thought it 
his duty to assume a firmer, more aggressive and more 
systematic attitude of opposition. He protested with all 
his force against the Right of Search, and combated the 
policy of the English alliance with its few advantages, its 
inconveniences and its humiliations. On laying before 
the Chamber a bill concerning secondary education,* he 
called attention to the rights of the State in matters of 
education, which he declared to be those of the new era, 
the modern spirit, and pointed out the dangers, in the 
form of Jesuitical pretensions, which lurked under the 
mantle of liberty. The next year, carrying on the same 
fight, he remarked on the encroachments of the church, 
favored by the Minister of Justice, M. Martin (du Nord), 
and M. de Salvandy, Minister of Public Instruction, and 
did not hesitate to remind his hearers of the laws abol- 
ishing the Jesuits, and demanded their enforcement. f 
Furthermore he attacked the Jesuits before the public at 
large in his newspaper, the Constitutionnel, which pub- 

* The system of education in France may be divided into I. Primary, 
2. High School, (instruction secondaire,) 3. University. 

\ A propos of these two personages, we can not refrain from recounting 
some recollections which seemed to be signs of the times. M. Martin, the 
protector of the Jesuits, was accustomed to indulge in the lowest habits. 
This was brought up against the society. Denounced by the police, he was 
surprised in a low resort and escaped by suicide from public dishonor. M. 
de Salvandy, a very worthy man, had a very different character. Though 
friendly to the Jesuits, he did not believe in the morality of their education, 
if we can judge from what he said at an official dinner which we attended 



jet. 47-49.] Rivalry of Thiers and Guizot. 1 19 

lished as a feuillcton, Eugene Sue's famous romance of 
the Wandering Jew* 

It would be very interesting to enter into details, and 
to examine closely the incidents of the struggle which 
we well remember, in which Guizot and Thiers deployed 
all the resources of their talent, but we are forced to 
choose and concentrate our attention on some of the 
more important portions. 

The discussion in the Chamber of the Address of 1846 
took place in the midst of a great fermentation of public 
opinion. People were grieved and humiliated more and 
more by the foreign policy of the Ministry, and above all 
by its unmanly attitude towards England. They were 
irritated by its opposition to the simplest and most 
popular liberal reforms, and by its ever-growing con- 
cessions to the clergy. The friends of royalty were 
afflicted by the increasing unpopularity of the Ministry, 
which reflected back on the King. His enemies were 
delighted at this. Among these latter were the legiti- 
mists, to whom, however, many advances and conces- 
sions had been made. They had been hastily admitted 

in 1846. At this time the trial of Beauvallon, who was, by the way, one of 
theBroglie Prefects in 1877, was attracting a great deal of attention. Beau- 
vallon had killed in a duel Dujarrier, a journalist and a lover of the famous 
Lola Montez, who finished her curious career at New York in 186 r. "I 
have had the curiosity," said M. de Salvandy, " to look up the antecedents 
of these different persons, and it is a fact that all of them were educated at 
religious establishments. I wish to draw no conclusions, but yet this does 
not prove much in favor of the claim which is advanced by the Jesuits, that 
they make virtuous men and women of their scholars." 

* The Wandering Jew is from beginning to end an attack on the spirit of 
covetousness, monopoly and ambition of the Society of Jesus. 



120 Life of Thiers. \i%4>. 

into the highest public offices, for no other reason than 
because of their nobility or family relations, and they 
now began to grow bolder in their opposition, turning 
against the new monarchy the arms it had used to over- 
throw the old. The legitimists argued in this wise: 
The revolution of July was an uprising against personal 
government, but personal government remains. It was 
to bring about better order at home, but it has not done 
so. It was to give greater liberty within, and to elevate 
the prestige of France abroad. It has failed to do both. 

As for the republicans, the National appeared too 
moderate. A new newspaper, the Reforme, stronger and 
more ardent in its opposition, was founded, and appeared 
in the political arena under the auspices of Ledru-Rollin. 
Then there was the Socialistic party, with Louis Blanc, 
Proudhon * and others at its head, inimical to the present 
order of things. And lastly, the clerical party, for which 
the dynasty had done so much, but which attacked it 
all the more bitterly for this very reason. The Univers, 
then as now the clerical organ, complained daily that the 
Church was in a state of servitude, because it had not 
the right to enslave everybody and everything. 

Thiers, who followed with an attentive eye this work of 
decomposition, where the good and the bad were mingled, 
where the most laudable aspirations were not the less 
dangerous, saw that, in order to control the situation and 
rule the political parties or at least to check them, the 

* Proudhon. (1809-1865), the noted publicist and radical speculator on 
social and political subjects. 



jet. 49.] Rivalry of Thiers and Guizot. 1 2 1 

Government ought now more than ever before to change 
its policy, to satisfy generously the liberal and patriotic 
demands of the people, and to accept frankly and honest- 
ly as in 1 83 1 and 1832 the representative regime. He ex- 
pressed these opinions frequently in the whole discussion 
of the Address and throughout the whole session of 1846, 
where, among other speeches, he delivered two remarka- 
ble ones, that of January 20th, dealing with the policy of 
the Cabinet, and that of March 17th, treating particularly 
of home politics and parliamentary reform. 

We will only cite that portion of his speech of 
January 20th, 1846, where he speaks of Guizot's policy in 
relation to the Texas question. Few Frenchmen have 
spoken with more truth and sympathy of the American 
Republic than did Thiers on this occasion. It sounds 
like an oration of the centennial year, though pronounced 
thirty years before that date. 

" If one notices what has occurred in America during 
the last sixty years, he must needs be surprised. When 
he remembers that the day we went to the succor of the 
United States, they scarcely occupied the shores of the 
Atlantic, that in sixty years they have crossed the 
Alleghanies, filled the immense valley of the Mississippi 
with their intrepid settlers, bordered the five lakes, attained 
the Rocky Mountains, reached the Gulf of Mexico through 
Louisiana, which we gave up to them, taken Florida, and 
that to-day they dispute Oregon and the coasts of the 
Pacific with England ; when one thinks of this, who can 



122 Life of Thiers. \\Z\t>. 

help experiencing a feeling of surprise ? They had but 
three millions of inhabitants, and to-day they have from 
eighteen to twenty millions; they were only thirteen 
States and now they are twenty-six or twenty-seven ; 
they had no marine and to-day they have vessels and 
frigates. But this is a poor estimate of their powers. 
They have an immense maritime population. They have 
not a great army, it is true, but they have among their 
farmers fearless riflemen who have checked the English 
army, trained in our great wars. They possess in addition, 
the tremendous pride of Democracy. I think that in the 
presence of such grandeur, one may indeed stand surprised. 

" But, I address myself to all of you ; look into your 
hearts, consult your most secret instincts, go back to the 
traditions of our country for the last quarter of a century, 
and tell me, are you uneasy and to what degree? Is 
there anyone here who thinks that this picture gives the 
slightest ground for fears of rivalry, that it is a source of 
danger to France? If, gentlemen, there be any that the 
most piercing eye can discover, I declare myself either a 
poor Frenchman or an ignorant one, for I can see none ; 
and I am sure that the unfortunate Louis XVI, when he 
founded the United States, that Napoleon I, when he in- 
creased their territory by giving up willingly, voluntarily, 
Louisiana, did not set up rivals of France. 

"If I were an Englishman, — a very great honor I 
assure you — I should feel anxiety, displeasure, dis- 
content. I am a very decided, a very firm, a very 



/Et. 49.] Rivalry of Thiers and .Gut sot. 123 

resolute partisan of the union with England -, but 
I cannot identify myself with the hopes, with the fears, 
with the sentiments of England, so as to believe that 
America can be either a rival or an enemy of France. 
No, I feel no anxiety whatsoever when I contemplate 
the grandeur of America. 

" I know what national jealousies are as well as an- 
other. I wish well to all peoples ; but of grandeur, I 
desire it only for our own. And, I declare, that America 
is perhaps the only nation of the world, after France, 
which I desire to see great." 

The speech of March 17th, 1846, touched the delicate 
and sensitive spot of the political situation, parliament- 
ary reform. Thiers pointed out the corruption sustained 
and favored by the presence of public functionaries in 
the Chamber — lobbyists, to use an American term ; he 
dwelt upon the state of dependence in which a great 
number of deputies was placed, the inevitable result of 
which was to pervert, to cast discredit upon the re- 
presentative system, and to leave the way open to per- 
sonal government. 

In this question of personal government, Thiers had 
clearly the advantage over his adversary ; for had not 
Guizot said in his letter to his constituents, February 
6th, 1839, at tne epoch of the Coalition, that "the King 
did not accept frankly enough the influence of the 
country ; " that the policy of the Mole Ministry had 
been " unpatriotic ; " that the authority of France had 



124 Life of Thiers. f I 8 4 6, 

grown weaker in Italy, Switzerland, Belgium and Spain ? * 
But, however great the temptation was to be personal: 
in the debate, Thiers did not take advantage of these con- 
tradictions, of these numerous changes of his rival, which 
Berryer stigmatized later when he spoke of " the au- 
daciousness of the apostacies." He wished to aim 
straight at Royalty. The King was his objective point 
when he indicated the deviations from the representa- 
tive system that were increasing daily ; for he was 
sincerely grieved and indignant to see, as he said at the 
beginning of his speech, " the government sprung from 
the Revolution become more than the accomplice, the 
dupe of the counter-revolution at home and abroad." 

More than one of the traits of Thiers's character are 
seen in this speech. The loftiness and vivacity of his 
sentiments show themselves in a striking form in that 
passage, for example, where he defends himself from the 
charge of being prompted in his attacks on Royalty by 
personal reasons : " I will admit it, from the bottom of 
my heart, that I am almost ashamed to come here and 
recall to you all the reasons I have for confidence in this 
Royalty, and, I say this, gentlemen, in all honesty. If 
Royalty has been deceived, if it has been made to doubt 
my devotion, my wounded dignity asserts itself and I 
would not try to undeceive it. I shall never try to make 
those believe in my devotion who doubt me." But we 
wish simply to point out the object that the orator had in 
* MJmoires, T. IV, pp. 454~5- 



jet. 49.] Rivalry of Thiers and Guizot. 125 

view in waging so fierce a war on this Royalty that he 
admired. This object was, as we have said, the destruc- 
tion of personal government. 

The defenders of Guizot's course hold, that as he had 
a majority in the Chamber and governed with this ma- 
jority, the essential conditions of representative govern- 
ment were fulfilled and that all the attacks made upon 
the Government and Royalty were indefensible. Thiers 
argued, on the other hand, that unless Royalty was kept 
in the background and set aside, the representative regime 
was a mere fiction, not a reality. He cited England, 
where is never heard " ' the queen wishes this, or the 
queen wishes that,' " and he added, " this is the true 
modei of representative government. For myself, I have 
sought it since my youth. I desired it under the Resto- 
ration ; I wished nothing else. I wrote in 1829 this 
watchword, which has become celebrated : The King 
reigns bnt does not govern. I wrote this in 1829. Do you 
think what I wrote in 1829 I do not hold to in 1846? 
No, this is my opinion still. But there are able minds 
that will say to me, ' You overlook the differences that 
exist between France and England,' Whatever may be 
said, I cannot see that there are such differences between 
France and England that one is destined to have only the 
fiction of representative government while the other has 
the reality. But if this were true, what then ? Repre- 
sentative government would be impossible in France ! 
Ah, we should have been told so in 1830 ! * * * We 



126 Life of Thiers. [1846-47. 

are often informed," he said in closing, " that this will all 
come in due time. Very good. I am reminded of the 
noble language of a German writer who, referring to 
opinions which triumph late, said, ' I will place my ves- 
sel on the highest promontory of the coast and will wait 
until the sea is high enough to float it off.' It is true 
that in supporting this opinion I place my vessel high, but 
I do not think I have put it on an inaccessible position." 

This speech produced a profound sensation both with- 
in and without the Chamber. A recess of twenty 
minutes followed its close. The Court was keenly 
wounded. " As leader of the Opposition," said the 
Journal des DSats, — " for this is the title he has given to 
himself, the crown he has proudly placed on his own 
head with his own hands, — a brilliant and successful career 
still lies open to M. Thiers ; but as minister, after the 
engagements he has entered into, he would only cause 
his own ruin and that of France. This speech of M. 
Thiers is his compte rendu?''* ■ 

The newspapers of the Opposition, on the other hand, 
were high in praise of Thiers's boldness and eloquence. 
Armand Marrast wrote in the National, the organ of the 
moderate Republicans : " We will not try to weaken the 
powerful impression that M. Thiers made to-day on all 
who heard him. Though M. Thiers is an enemy of our 
ideas, and though we will never accept his, still this will 
not hinder us from doing justice to the talent that he 

An allusion to the compte rendu of Necker, which occasioned the rupture 
between him and Louis XVI. and his dismissal in 1789. 



/Et. 49-50.] Rivalry of Thiers and Gtiizot. 127 

has shown, and the success that he has attained. We 
have never seen him so full of energy, so brilliant, so 
happy. At times he rose to the loftiest inspirations. 
His style, sometimes wandering, beating about the bush, 
scintillant, was rapid, direct, steady in its blaze. He 
moved right on, fearless of all obstacles, and, it must be 
said, if that obstacle was the Throne, it did not arrest him." 
In 1847 Thiers's opposition to Guizot, or rather to per- 
sonal government in favor of the " strictly veritable rep- 
resentative government," had arrived at its last period. 
Public opinion was growing more and more excited. It 
had in vain asked for parliamentary reform ; it now de- 
manded electoral reform.* That the right of suffrage be 
given to those citizens who had taken the degree of 
licence'.^ Lamartine has just launched a fire brand of 
war in his History of the Girondists, where the Republic 
appeared radiant in the light of an apotheosis, and the 
author, breaking away from his former opinions against De- 
mocracy, exclaimed that he was working to found " demo- 
cratic fraternity." Ledru-Rollin's newspaper, the Re'forme, 
daily waged war on the Ministry and asserting the sacred- 
nessof the right of public meeting, propagated the reform 
agitation of the banquets where were delivered after-dinner 
speeches of a political nature, against the Government. 

* The system then in vogue sometimes presented astonishing situations. 
A newspaper of the period reported that at the royal college of Caen, there 
was but one vote in the whole personnel — the doorkeeper ! Jules Simon, 
who has since been Prime Minister of France, was then pi-ofessor of phil- 
osophy at Caen ! 

f The licence is the intervening degree between the baccalaureate and the 
doctorate. 



128 Life of Thiers. [i%<$. 

Thiers, always watchful of public opinion, redoubled 
his attention that he might seize its import and his 
energy, that he might direct it. He was leaning more 
and more to the Left, where he exerted an influence by 
means of the National. He had other newspapers, es- 
pecially the Constitutionnel* more particularly devoted to 
him and his policy. Thiers felt that something decisive 
was at hand ; and, persuaded that Guizot, entangled in 
his unpopularity, would destroy Royalty, he determined 
to force him to retire, without recourse however to a 
revolution, and yet without -being frightened at the 
chance of one. 

The persistence of the Government in its policy of re- 
sistance to all the demands of public opinion, determined 
the attitude of the champions of the Opposition in the 
discussion of the Address of 1848. Thiers took the most 
active part in this great and solemn tourney. In the 
whole debate the orator only repeated what he had said 
often before. The reason of this was simple : at a distance 
of eighteen years, under different forms and circumstances 
it is true, the Revolution and the counter-revolution 
still stood face to face. It was a discussion concerning 
the grandeur or the abasement of France that was 
listened to by the Chamber and the public. Thiers, 
therefore, found himself forced to reproduce the same 

* Though Thiers was the founder of the National, (see page 30,) he 
severed his connections with it soon after the establishment of the July 
Monarchy, and at the period mentioned in the text he was political director 
of the Constitutionnel, on which newspaper, it will remembered, (see p^e 
l5)> he gained his first journalistic experience. 



jet. 51.] Rivalry of Thiers and Guizot. 129 

arguments, to harp on the old theme. But with what 
brilliant variations, with what loftiness of mind and 
warmth of soul, with what versatile talent he acquitted 
himself of the task, those can tell who heard him. It is 
certain that nowhere has he been so completely himself, 
nowhere more liberal, nowhere more national. The 
debate shows him to us in his entirety. He echoed the 
patriotism of the nation when he exclaimed, referring to 
the treaties of 1815, " They must be observed, but de- 
tested." Thiers's political character is depicted in its 
completeness in the following words : " I am not radical ; 
but mark it well, I belong to the party of the Revolution 
in Europe. I favor only the principles of the Revolu- 
tion in the hands of the moderate. I shall do all I can 
to keep it in their hands ; but if it pass into hands that 
are not moderate, I shall not, therefore, desert the cause 
of the Revolution. I shall always stand by the party of 
the Revolution." 

The struggle was drawing to a close. It was about to 
pass from the parliamentary arena to the streets. In every 
conflict that sets parties and governments at enmity, there 
is a distinct and immediate cause. In the revolution of 
1848 it was the denial of the right of holding public meet- 
ings. The banquets organized in the autumn of 1848 by 
the Opposition in the Departments, laid the train which 
the prohibited banquet of February 22nd, 1848, at Paris 
ignited. A revolution was the result. 

After a long debate in the Chamber concerning the 



130 Life of Thiers. 



[1848 



right of holding public meetings, the Opposition, weary 
of abstractions and desirous of actually testing the ques- 
tion, appointed a committee to consult with the electors 
of Paris concerning a banquet in that city, which should 
be " a protest against arbitrary pretensions." 

Did Thiers foresee that the contest, if carried on in this 
way, if transferred to the streets, would have a conclusion 
other than that desired by him and the majority of the 
Opposition ? That he at least feared it can be surmised 
from a remark attributed to him : " Duvergier de Hau- 
ranne " * he said, " thinks he will go to the banquet in 
yellow gloves ! " Furthermore, did Thiers want things 
pushed to extremes ? He caused to be published in the 
Constitutional : " The Opposition, in assembling, desires 
only to bring the question of the right of holding public 
meetings before the courts for their decision." This was 
written on February 18th, and the banquet was set down 
for the 22nd. On the 20th the Chief of Police prohibited 
the banquet. M. Odilon Barrot, in accord with Thiers, 
immediately called the Opposition together at his house, 
and it was decided not to go to the banquet, while, at the 
same time, the meeting expressed the hope " that good 
citizens will abstain from all gatherings and illegal demon- 
strations." But it was too late. The dispute was to be 

* Prosper Duvergier de Hauranne, born in 1798 and still living (1878), is a 
historian, publicist and statesman ; a Doctrinaire " deputy from 1831 to 
1847, and a consecutive deputy under the Republic of 1848 ; imprisoned and 
exiled by the Empire ; member of the French Academy in 1870 ; and father 
of M. Ernest Duvergier de Hauranne, who has written much on America, 
in the Revue des Deux Mondes. 



/Et. si.] Rivalry of Thiers and Guizot. 131 

decided not by the courts but by force, or, as M. Baroche 
(one of the republican agitators of 1848, who after- 
wards became a minister of Napoleon III,) said, by " the 
justice of the people." The excitement spread all over 
Paris. 

The Opposition, nevertheless, hoped still to direct the 
movement to a legal issue. On the 22nd a demand for 
the arraignment of the Ministry on the ground of its 
anti-liberal and anti-national policy, was signed by fifty- 
two of the Opposition deputies, among whom are found, 
side by side with such notorious republicans as Carnot,* 
Marie,f and Garnier-Pages, these friends of Thiers, Odilon 
Barrot, the Count de Maleville,;}: the Count de Lasteyrie, § 
Georges de Lafayette, |j etc. But, though the banquet was 
adjourned, the Marseillaise was sung in the faubourgs, 
and everywhere resounded the cries of " Down with 
Guizot ! " " Long live Reform ! " The King now saw 
that it was necessary to yield to the storm and sacrifice 
Guizot. But, in his despair, he called upon M. Mol<§, in- 

* Carnot, born in 1801 and still living (1878), son of the celebrated Carnot 
of the Revolution ; historian, publicist and statesmen ; deputy from 1839 to 
1848 ; Minister of Public Instruction and deputy under the Republic of 
1848 ; member of the Corps Legislatif of the Empire ; and life senator 
under the present Republic. 

f Marie, (1797 ), advocate and politician ; deputy under the July Mon- 
archy ; member 'of the Provisional Government of 1848 : Minister of Public 
Works and President of the Assembly under the Republic of 1848 ; and a 
member of the Corps Legislatif in 1863. 

% Leon de Maleville, (1803 ), deputy in 1834 and in 1848 ; retired to 

private life during the Empire ; and made life senator by the present Repulic. 

§ Lasteyrie, (t8io ). archaeologist and politician ; deputy in 1842 and 

under the Republic of 1848 , member of the Academy of Inscriptions, i860 ; 
and cousin of the Marquis de Lasteyrie ; and made life senator under the 
present Republic. 

|| Georges Washington Lafayette. (1779-1849,) son of the great Lafayette, 
played a secondary part in the political events of the July Monarchy. 



i3 2 Life of Thiers. [ l84 s. 

stead of having immediate recourse to a strong and pos- 
sible remedy — Thiers ; so that when he sent for Thiers 
on the night of the 23d-24th, after the refusal of M. Mole 
to accept the responsibility, all was lost or at least very 
nearly so. 

At half past ten on the morning of the 24th, Thiers 
addressed his first proclamation to the people, in which 
he announced that the troops were ordered to cease firing. 
At two o'clock a second proclamation made known " the 
abdication of the King, amnesty, dissolution, an appeal to 
the country." But the work was already achieved. The 
troops had begun to fraternize with the people. M. Du- 
pin had tried in vain to proclaim the regency of the 
Duchess of Orleans, mother of the Count of Paris, in 
whose favor the King had abdicated. A Provisional 
Government was soon established at the Hotel de Ville, 
of which Thiers was not a member. The revolution of 
1848 was accomplished. 

At the close of this new and long trial of representa- 
tive monarchy, which, like the first — that of the Restor- 
ation — ended in a revolution, an inevitable question pre- 
sents itself concerning the man who acted so considerable 
a role in the diverse phases of both trials : What part of 
the responsibility belongs to Thiers for the fall of the 
July Monarchy, a fall which he did not ask for, and 
which, without any doubt, he more than once regretted ? 

M. Cuvillier-Fleury has said : " One can trace through- 
out M. Thiers's whole 'political history this principle of 



^Ex. 5I j Rivalry of Thiers and Guizot. 133 

' the King reigning but not governing,' which he not only 
created but boldly carried out. It was his armor: now\ 
a lance for attack, now a shield for defence. A man can- 
not carry such an arm without being sometimes trans- \ 
ported by the intoxication of the battle. With this prin- 
ciple of defensive and offensive warfare, which had be- 
come a part of his very being, M. Thiers began in 1830 
with a legal revolution. With this same principle carried 
to extremes, he contributed, without intending it, towards 
a second and very different revolution, that of 1848, thus 
leaving the monarchy, which he preferred, for the re- \\ 
public, which he had not yet learned to like." 

Thiers, then, had carried too far, to that degree of ex- 
aggeration which in a statesman would be a very grave 
fault, the application of a legitimate principle, which is 
in fact the political soul of the French Revolution, and 
thus thoughtlessly brought on the revolution of Feb- 
ruary ! It would be Guizot then who would stand justi- 
fied before history at the expense of his rival. We can- 
not agree with M. Cuvillier-Fleury on this point. Though 
deploring, doubtless with him, the turn that events took 
later, we cannot admit that Thiers was wrong in opposing 
the introduction and perpetuation of personal govern- 
ment under the mask that it had assumed ; in attacking 
Royalty, which would shape the policy of the country 
to its own liking, subjecting it to the bed of Procrustes, 
which would resort to electoral corruption to carry its 
measures, which would allow the influence of Jesuitism 



134 Life of Thiers. [1848. 

to penetrate everywhere, and to extinguish at the very 
hearth-stone all great and generous inspirations. There 
are principles to which it is impossible to subscribe 
and remain true to one's self. Lafayette has said : " Sup- 
pose that a man say that two and two make four, and 
that a second hold that two and two make eight. What 
would you think of a third who, to avoid the extremes, 
should modestly insinuate that it is necessary to take a 
middle term, and declare that two and two make six ? " 
In judging between Thiers and Guizot, Lafayette's re- 
mark should be kept in mind. Guizot, to please the 
King, had adopted a policy which consisted in saying 
that two and two make six. Thiers did not think that, 
in order to get the credit of a false wisdom, or to gratify 
the longings of ambition, he ought to deny point blank 
the axioms of political arithmetic and the primary truths 
of his intellect and conscience. 

We are of those who applauded the revolution of 
1848, and who have since regretted it, on seeing the long 
chain of misfortunes that resulted therefrom : — a people 
armed with a right which it did not yet know how to 
use, which it turned against itself, which it comprehended 
only after the most cruel trials ; — a republic ignorantly 
thrown into the hands of an adventurer without honor or 
genius ; — a petted bourgeoisie,. brought by groundless fears 
under the yoke of antiquated and long-execrated doctrines 
— Jesuitism; — eighteen years of a reign which corrupted 
public morality and enervated all institutions, and which, 



Mr. 51.] Rivalry of Thiers and Guizot. 135 

wrecking itself, wrecked France also, and lost to her two 
beautiful provinces ; — a new republic called upon to re- 
pair the evils of the fallen regime, condemned to see 
reborn, under other names, the same pretensions of per- 
sonal government, of arbitrariness, of retrogression towards 
the deleterious doctrines of the past. But our regrets, all 
this past of ruin and of tears — of which we personally 
have had more than our share — will not render us unjust 
to Thiers. He did what he ought to have done, and all 
this desolate retrospect had been bright — it is our honest 
conviction — if his policy had prevailed against Guizot's. 

There are often singular coincidences in contemporary 
impressions and conclusions. Thiers has been more than 
once condemned by judges actuated by entirely different 
sentiments and opinions. 

On September 4th, 1870, at the moment when Thiers's 
motion concerning the vacancy of the throne and the 
nomination of a provisional governmental commission was 
adopted in the Corps Legislatif, Begere, who afterwards 
was a member of the Paris Commune, penetrated into 
the lobby of the Chamber. A group of deputies sur- 
rounded Thiers, to whom the adoption of his motion 
was announced. Begere broke into the conversation, 
and said to the circle, as he pulled out his watch : " The 
people gave the Chamber two hours to make a govern- 
ment ; it is a quarter past three now ; it is too late ! " 
And when Thiers protested, Begere, placing his hand on 
his arm, said : " Come, come, M. Thiers, don't get angry ; 



i3 6 Life of Thiers. [ l84 8. 

you are well versed in overturning governments, you, 
who have overturned two or three." On Thiers denying 
this, the unsparing Begere answered : "Well, all right, 
you overturned one and you suffered the others to be 
overturned." 

There was more justice in M. Begere's opinion than 
in that of M. Cuvillier-Fleury. Thiers overturned but 
one government, that of the Restoration. The others 
were overturned without his aid, sometimes in spite of 
him. To speak only of the July Monarchy, the responsi- 
bility for this catastrophe should be laid at the door of the 
King, a man of ability, full of good intentions, a friend 
of the Revolution, Voltairian and skeptic, but often, 
through feebleness and regard for family, yielding to the 
influences of the old regime, and, in a word, unfaithful to 
the two great moral forces which had placed him in 
power, the spirit of liberty and of nationalism. 

M. Saint-Marc Girardin, in his Souvenirs and Political 
Reflections, says that Louis-Philippe was in the habit of 
looking upon the National Guard of Paris, " as the ac- 
knowledged armed interpreter of public opinion," and that 
when he learned that some of its battalions appeared to 
be pronouncing against him, he considered, (too soon in 
the opinion of M. Girardin), that all was lost. Then it was 
that he made this remark to those who advised him to 
use force : " What, would you have me fire on my elec- 
tors?" 

The King was right ; but in thus giving the true state 



yE T . 5 i.] Rivalry of Thiers and Guizot. 137 

of the situation, he condemned himself; he condemned 
that policy which ended by alienating from him his old 
friends, his electors, to use his own words, because he 
would substitute his own ideas for theirs, because he 
tried no longer to comprehend them, because he turned 
against himself, the sentiments and principles to which 
he owed the Crown ; and, in condemning himself, he 
justified Thiers as well against M. Cuvillier-Fleury as 
M. Begere. Governments stand only by being logical, 
by being faithful to their principles and their origin. 
And, if we may again refer to Senator Sumner's remark :* 
" Paris is not worth a mass," for nothing is worth so 
much as principles. But if to get possession of Paris, it 
is essential to go to mass, and if going to mass does not 
demand the sacrifice of principle, then it is necessary to 
continue attending mass or give up the city. Apostasies, 
even sincere ones, in the long run accomplish nothing in 
politics. 

* See the beginning of Chapter III, page 50, 




%^ 



CHAPTER V. 

REPUBLIC OF 1848. — 1 848-1 852. 

Thiers did not wish for the Revolution of 1848 ; but it 
is not true that he accepted the Republic unwillingly, 
and with mental reservations of a monarchical nature. 
Neither his past nor his principles absolutely separated 
him from a republic. He had celebrated its heroes in 
his History of the Fretich Revolution with as much enthu- 
siasm, if not with as much pomp and poetry, as had La- 
martine in his Girondists. He regretted its fall under 
the hand of Bonaparte November 9th, 1799, in spite of 
the fascination that the genius of the destructor exer- 
cised over his young imagination. It was implicitly 
contained in his celebrated formula : " The King reigns but 
does not govern." He had attacked the Old Monarchy as 
if by way of reprisal, and it was not his fault if the New 
Monarchy, to which he was warmly attached, did not 
understand the meaning of his assault, if the threat was 
accomplished at its expense. If he was provoked at the 
unexpected revolution of 1848, and alarmed at the tre- 
mendous uncertainty that it threw about the future of 



^e t . 5I .] Republic of 1848. 139 

the country, he had too much patriotism to allow the 
accomplished fact to pursue without him the new career 
so brusquely opened, a career that might be a bloody 
arena ; and he had too great an intellect to be incensed 
or sulky over it. After the first moment of stupor had 
passed away, he came forward to the support of the Re- 
public. On March 8th, 1848, he addressed the following 
letter of acceptance to the electors of the department 
of the Bouches-du-Rhone : 

* * "I am ready to resist tyranny in every shape, but 
I shall never resist the force of circumstances unequivo- 
cally manifested. I, therefore, acquiesce in the Republic 
without any reservations, but I do not intend to disavow 
any part of my life. I have concluded, therefore, to accept 
the nomination from feelings of duty, devotion and 
honor, not that I may work in the future National 
Assembly for a disguised Restoration, but that I may 
work there' openly to establish the new Republic on a 
durable and solid foundation." 

This declaration, as lofty as sincere, was not equal to 
the suspicions and imputations then rife concerning 
Thiers's conversion to republicanism : he was defeated. 
This injustice was, however, soon requited. In the com- 
plemental elections of June 8th, 1848, he was chosen in 
the four departments of the Seine, Mayenne, Orne and 
Seine-Inferieure. He decided to represent the Seine. 

Events succeeded each other with that giddy rapidity 



14° Life of Thiers. \x%$. 

characteristic of sudden revolutions. The Days of June' 55 ' 
had mortally wounded the new Republic, because the in- 
surrection had maddened the multitude and furnished the 
enemy pretexts for opposing it. The election of Decem- 
ber ioth, 1848, had introduced that enemy into power, 
by confiding the destinies of France to the inheritor of the 
name of him whom Thiers called, in a letter to Guizot, 
" the greatest of men." Neither threats nor popular en- 
thusiasm caused Thiers to lose sight of his principles, or 
of the^ promise which he had given to support the 
form of government which represented them at this 
moment. 

On February 15th, 1850, when the Empire was being 
prepared, he pronounced these words, so often repeated 
since : " The Republic has this advantage in my eyes : of 
all governments it divides us the least." Nor did he 
forget that it had another claim, that of being the child 
of the Revolution. A short time before the coup d'etat, 
when Napoleon, in order to accomplish his ends, did 
not blush to make use of the enemies of the Revolution 
to smother it, while at the same time he pretended 
to be its continuator and inheritor, Thiers spoke in the 
tribune of the Legislative Assembly in this manner: 

* The Assembly, by the decree of June 22nd, 1848, ordered a number of 
workmen of the National workshops to enroll themselves in the army. In 
case of refusal, they were to be discharged from the workshops. A terrible 
insurrection, lasting from June 22nd to June 28th, was the result. Paris 
was declared in a state of seige, and General Cavaignac was made Dictator 
by the Government. Eleven generals were killed or wounded, the Archbishop 
of Paris lost his life, and thousands of people and soldiers were slain before 
order was restored. 



^et. 51.] Republic of 1848. 141 

" Yes, we are Jacobins, and we would not be anything 
else ; yes, we are of the people's party, Jacobins, together 
with Mirabeau, Sieyes and Barnave. On our side are 
also found the Jacobins who suffered and died like 
Lafayette. The Jacobins, in our eyes, are all those men 
who since 1789 have uttered a prayer for liberty ; yes, 
we are glad to be members of this Jacobin party. It 
would be base to desert the cause of the Revolution, to 
which we are indebted for all that we are. Our adversa- 
ries themselves, who defame and calumniate the Revolu- 
tion, owe a new existence to it, a new nobility, liquidated 
debts, the freedom which they employ against it, all, 
even the very bread that they eat." 

This language not only attests Thiers's constancy to 
his principles, but it was also a political act which pub- 
lished to the world his attitude in regard to the new 
order of things. At the same time, he struck a blow at 
the enemies of the French Revolution, at the legiti- 
mists and the clericals, and at all those who, while pre- 
tending to restore the Revolution, shut out liberty, its 
very essence : he arraigned, in fact, the abettors of social- 
ism and Caesarism. To both he distinctly said that they 
would have to reckon with him. It was with socialism .• 
that events first brought him face to face. 

On January 4th, 1839, Lamartine, in a great speech, in 
the course of which, while referring to the July Monarchy 
as a government of transition, and revealing a leaning 
towards a Republic, he thought it his duty to defend 



14 2 Life of Thiers. [1848. 

the prerogatives of the Crown against the attacks of the 
Coalition, was interrupted byArago, the astronomer, who, 
called out to him from his seat : " And the socialistic 
party?" " The socialistic party? " responded Lamartine; 
I am asked what the socialistic party is ? Gentlemen, it 
is not yet a party ; it is an idea."* 

Lamartine was right. The socialistic party was then 
only an idea. He would have been more correct, if he 
had said that it will always be an idea ; and he would 
have come still nearer the truth, if he had said that the 
socialistic party is found everywhere, and at all times, 
pertaining to all parties, since they all, through politics, 
strive after a certain type of society which is the force 
and raison d'etre of each of them. We have, however, 
recalled this incident because it displays two tendencies, 
and shows the republican party thus early divided into 
two factions, in one of which, political questions domi- 
nate, in the other, social matters ; the one, taking civil 
society as produced by the upheaval of 1789, sees in a 
republic only a means of ameliorating it ; the other, 
bolder and less patient, would bring about an immediate 
reform, not hesitating sometimes to employ dictatorial 
measures in order to set up its ideals. Arago, Marrast, 
General Cavaignac, Cremieux,f Garnier-Pages, Michel de 

* Mem. de Guizot, T. IV., p. 290. 

•f-Cremieux, born in 1796 and still living, (1878), is a distinguished advo- 
cate and politician ; a radical deputy in 1842 ; Minister of Justice in the 
Provisional Government of 1848 ; deputy under the Republic of 1848, and 
again in 1869 ; Minister cf Justice in the Provisional Government of 1870 ; 
deputy in 1872, and now life senator. As president of the Universal Israelite 
Alliance of Paris, he has done much for the Jewish race all over the world. 



jet. 51.] Republic of 1848. 143 

Bourges, Ledru-Rollin and Lamartine himself belonged 
to the first of these divisions ; Louis Blanc, Pierre Le- 
roux,* Proudhon and Consid£rant,f though differing pro- 
foundly, may be classed under the second division. 
Thiers, when he came over to the Republic, could, of 
course, associate himself only with the first. 

We already know Thiers well enough to be sure that 
if he took up arms against socialism, he would not hesi- 
tate to aim his weapons at its most dangerous represen- 
tative, and, in his desire to destroy the system, would not 
recoil from charging the very centre of the armed square. 

Socialism, to take the vague and elastic word that has 
prevailed, had affected many forms and many systems, and 
under the various names of Icarianism, \ Phalansterian- 
ism,§ the Rights of Labor, BabceuvismJ Communism, etc. 
had offered many panaceas to the public. Some laughed, 
seeing in the Utopias of this intellectual movement only 
the natural product of a great and agitated society, 
the play of the imagination, or innocent inspirations 

* Pierre Leroux, (1798-1871,) was one of the early socialists, becoming an 
ardent advocate of Saint Simonianism in 1831 ; Deputy in 1848 ; left France 
after the coup d'etat of 1 851 and did not return until 1869. 

•|-Consideraiit, (1808 ) was the chief advocate of the social system 

named after its founder, Fourierism ; deputy in 1848 ; founded a colony 
called Reunion, near San Antonio, Texas ; returned to France in 1869. 

^;EtienneCabet,(i788-i856,) a French socialist and radical democrat, pub- 
lished in 1842 a romantic socialistic book entitled Travels in Icaria, which 
enjoyed great popularity among the working classes of Paris. He established 
several communistic colonies in this country. 

§ Phalansterianism is derived from phalanstery, a large building intended 
to be the common dwelling of all the members of a social organization es- 
tablished upon the plan of the French socialist, Charles Fourie r. 

|| So called from Baboeuf, who, a French socialist of the last century, as- 
sumed the name of " Caius Gracchus." He advocated equality and community 
of property. 



144 Life of Thiers. [1S4S. 

analogous to those of the Sermon on the Mount ; others 
excused the movement, considering these idealities, the 
fermentations, and necessary stimulants of social activity, 
like the mirage of the desert, which keeps up the strength 
of the traveler, by holding out to him an oasis ; but the 
more thoughtful, without yielding to needless alarm, 
recognized in socialism warnings for a selfish society too 
forgetful of the destitute. But when socialism along 
with the February Republic entered the Hotel de Ville, 
backed by a population exalted by a revolution, deep 
apprehensions were awakened, and as socialism, whether 
it wish it or not, is always looked upon by the great mass 
of people as an attack upon property, property was 
alarmed. Reflection easily proves, that in a nation which 
numbers more than seven millions of property holders, 
whose soil already so worked, can still produce more than 
five times what it now produces, whose personal property 
is continually increasing, whose manifold and immense 
activity finds so many outlets, — in such a nation, it 
is evident that property is impregnable, and need fear 
no danger. But reflection counts for little in times of re- 
volution. This solicitude, though it had no foundation in 
fact, was none the less real ; and the anti-republicans, fur- 
thermore, vied with each other in turning it against the 
Republic and the Revolution. 

Hence it was that Thiers did his utmost to calm the 
fears of those who thought property in danger, and, on 
the other hand, to show the socialists, that, if it were true, 



^t. 5 i.] Republic of 1848. 145 

that they wished to found a society which should exclude 
property and its essential consequences, the family and 
transmissions by inheritance,- they were pursuing a 
chimaera. He, therefore, attacked Proudhon, him, who 
surpassing in his boldness all the other innovators more 
or less threatening to property, had dared to cast at 
society his audacious paradox : Property is robbery * 

Thiers's book deserves to be known, and we shall con- 
sequently analyze it at some length. It is not a book 
written for the moment. The author, it is true, threw it 
off in three months in the country, to which he had re- 
tired, and where, — as he remarked in the preface of the 
book with a little choler — he enjoyed" the repose which the 
voters of his native province had procured for him." But 
the ideas had been revolving in his mind for three years, 
and he had a right to hope the book would survive the 
time which saw it produced. 

The work is divided into four parts. In the first Thiers 
shows how the right of ownership in property has been 
questioned in our century, and then goes on to say, 
that the study of human nature is the only method to be 
employed in settling what are the rights of man in so- 
ciety. Man possesses in his personal faculties a primary 
and incontestable property, which is the cause and origin 
of all the others ; a secondary property, property, strictly 
speaking, the result of labor, and held sacred by society 
in the interest of all, is but the consequence of the ex- 

* La propriete, c'est le vol. 



146 Life of Thiers. ^848. 

ercise of the human faculties themselves. This principle 
established, he easily proves that inequality of riches arises 
necessarily from inequality of abilities. Passing on to 
the transmission of property, he undertakes to show that 
without this essential condition, the right of property is 
incomplete and almost useless. Finally, the author ex- 
amines the different modes of transmission, the accumu- 
lation of wealth and its functions in society, and closes 
by showing that the universe, far from being devastated 
by the growing extension of property, is, on the contrary 
rendered more fit for the wants of man, more capable of 
development, in a word, that property civilizes the world 
instead of usurping it. 

The second part is given up to communism. In the 
author's opinion, communism gives rise to community 
of possessions and goods, extinguishes all ardor for work, 
denies absolutely human liberty, destroys the family in 
destroying property, its sine qua non, and, consequently, 
extinguishes the noblest sentiments of human nature. 
In fine, it is but a poor imitation, a sort of counterfeit of 
monasticism, which only aggravates the contradictions 
that render this latter plan of life impossible. 

The third book brings us face to face with socialism 
properly so-called. After showing how the adversaries of 
property, not always daring to throw it absolutely aside, 
have ended, in their efforts to correct what they consider 
to be an evil, by adopting different systems, as co-opera- 
tive association, community of possessions and goods, 



jE T . 5I i Republic of 1848. 147 

and labor rights, he endeavors to find out what are the 
real social evils that ought to be remedied. In his eyes, 
co-operation is applicable only in certain agglomerated 
populations, among the working classes of the cities ; 
there only can it hope to succeed. As to the capital 
of the co-operative association, if it be furnished by the 
State, it is unjustly taken from the pockets of the mass 
of the taxpayers, and, if it be deducted from the wages of 
the workmen, it is an imprudent investment of their 
savings. Good business management under the co- 
operative system is impossible, and tends to substitute 
for the principle of personal interest, which is alone suit- 
able to private industry, the principle of general interest, 
which is applicable only in the government of states. 
By the abolition of competition, piece-work is destroyed, 
and the workman is thus prevented from participating in 
the benefits of capital. Competition is the source of all 
amelioration of the condition of the poorer classes, and, 
competition removed, there remains a monopoly to the 
profit of the co-operative workmen, at the expense of 
those who are not so fortunate as to be associated with 
them. Cheapness cannot be brought about by legis- 
lation, and specie could not be safely replaced by paper, 
unless this paper is as difficult to obtain as the coin itself. 
The obligation imposed upon society to furnish work to 
those who want it, cannot constitute a right. Socialists 
attack property none the less than communists, and it is 
noticeable that they are concerned about but one part of 
the people, those agglomerated in cities. 



148 Life of Thiers. [ t s 4 8. 

The fourth division of the book treats of taxes. Ac- 
cording to Thiers, it is not true, as some pretend, that 
governments have had as their chief object, during all 
these centuries, to unburden one class of citizens at the 
expense of the others, to take money where it was the 
easiest to find it. Taxes should be levied on all kinds of 
revenues, whether arising from property or toil. They 
should be proportional not progressional. He thinks taxes 
are tending towards infinite diversification : they will be 
equally and universally distributed, will become confound- 
ed with the price of things, in such a way that each person 
will support his share of the impost, not by reason of 
what he pays to the State, but by reason of what he con- 
sumes. The modifications in the system of taxation, 
which will do the most good to the laboring classes, are 
not those most commonly proposed. 

M. Louis Veuillot, who is the authorized mouth-piece 
of the Papacy in France, in speaking of Thiers's attack on 
socialism, wrote the following lines : " M. Thiers has 
experienced the fearful shudder that socialism gave 
him, when it finally appeared, coming forth from the 
depths of the revolutionary dogmas. Before this mon- 
ster he found himself helpless. The absolute weakness 
of his book against Proudhon is remembered. To answer 
Proudhon it was necessary to have recourse to the Cate- 
chism, to Catholicism. M. Thiers never imagined that 
the Catechism contained arguments against Proudhon, 



jet. 51.] Republic of 1848. 149 

and Donoso Cortes* could not convince him of it, so 
incapable was his dull intellect of grasping the point, so 
completely did his famous good sense abandon him at 
this moment. A Pagan cannot be an able statesman at 
fifty : he has too much vanity to study the Catechism and 
learn its lessons. Then, Thiers sought Louis Napoleon 
and began to recover ground slowly, until Louis Na- 
poleon threw him off, thinking that he had no need of 
him, and believing that he could stand alone. Thiers and 
Louis Napoleon closely resembled each other, though 
Thiers was no dreamer. Both were vain. In his spite, 
Thiers passed judgment on Napoleon in this wise : ' I 
like the kitchen, but not the cook.' This witticism re- 
flected more severely on himself than on Napoleon. "f 

M. Louis Veuillot has seldom more maladroitly tor- 
tured common sense and dressed up history, than in 
these lines, written almost the day after Thiers's death. 
How could Thiers think of arming himself with the 
Catechism against the " red spectre," in a society which no 
longer believed in the Catechism, and where even those 
who professed to believe in it, scarcely did more than to 
mumble over its precepts with their lips ? He thought 
to do better, by addressing himself to men's reason and 
interests, by pointing to the experience of history, the 

* Donoso Cortes, (1809-1853), was a Spanish author and diplomate ; con- 
servative in politics and a vigorous defender of Catholicism. His Essay on 
Catholicism, Liberalism, and Socialism, written in l85i,is referred to in 
the text. 

f L' Univers, September 16th, 1877. This is the chief Catholic organ in 
France, and M. Veuillot is its editor. 



i5o Life of Thiers. \z%&. 

sentiments and beliefs of all ages and places, which 
passion might violate in moments of trouble, but whose 
truths could never be completely extinguished. He had 
not to do with men of the Middle Ages, but with the 
descendants of Voltaire, who, on account of the June in- 
surrection, began to lose faith in the philosopher, and with 
the disciples of Rousseau, led astray by sophisms or a desire 
to better the world. As regards M. Veuillot's comparison 
of Louis Napoleon and Thiers, nothing more absurd can 
be imagined. 

Contemporary history does not present two more dis- 
similar persons, two more opposite opinions concerning 
the ways and the needs of France. Never was there a 
man more positive than Thiers, more regardful of rights 
and law ; never was there a man more chimerical than 
Napoleon, more selfish, and more disposed, in order to 
accomplish his object, to trample on the rights and laws 
of his country. Furthermore, there was nothing in 
Napoleon III to attract Thiers. He knew his origin : 
he was well aware that the future Caesar, who was about 
to avail himself of the true Csesar's name, had not proba- 
bly a drop of the true Csesar's blood in his veins. He 
saw that Louis Napoleon threatened all that he loved, 
all that he had worked for, that he was both a mediocre 
and a dreamer, and, consequently, to be doubly feared, 
on account of his pretensions and incapacity. It would 
have been the height of folly, for a man like Thiers, 
to think one instant of attaching- himself to the fortunes 



^et. 51.] Republic of 1848. i5i 

of Louis Napoleon. And yet, after the Days of June, 
when Louis Napoleon offered himself as a candidate for 
the presidency of the Republic, in opposition to General 
Cavaignac, Thiers voted against the general, whom he 
esteemed, in favor of the prince, whom he despised.* 
Here is an apparent contradiction which has often been 
thrown up at Thiers. It must be explained. 

Thiers always sought order and liberty, always labored 
for their alliance ; and in contests where they were found 
to clash, he always ranged himself on the side of the one 
he thought the most threatened. After the sanguinary 
Days of June, which had agitated the whole of France 
and terrified the conservatives, order seemed to be in the 
greatest peril. Now, the party of order had but two can- 
didates, General Cavaignac and Prince Louis Napol- 
eon. The general since his June victory had lost much 
of his popularity in the republican party, which, opposing 
him with Ledru-Rollin and Raspailf was thus divided. 
The whole order party rallied around the prince, either 
on account of fear or hatred of the Republic, filled with 
the secret hope of seeing it soon fall under the weight of 
difficulties, which it was not thought capable of sup- 
porting. Thiers could not be influenced solely by such 
sentiments : it was " the force of circumstances unequiva- 

* It was held at the time, that he said that " the election of Louis Napo- 
leon would be a disgrace to France." Thiers denied it emphatically in 
the Chamber. M. Bixio, a deputy, cried out: "I heard it." Thiers at 
the end of the sitting, sent seconds to M. Bixio, and a duel was fought 
immediately in the gardens of the palace of the Assembly. 
I f Raspail, (1794-1878), the famous radical agitator, who fought in the 
streets in 1830 and 1848, and was connected with the Commune in 1870-71. 



1 52 Life of Thiers. 



[1848-49. 



cally manifested," as he said in his letter of acceptance 
to the electors of the Bouches-du-Rhone, that weighed 
with him. He hesitated a long time, before he yielded 
to the pressure. 

To use the words of M. Louis Veuillot, would the 
kitchen, that was about to be gotten ready, meet with his 
favor? No, no more than the cook. Thiers did not like 
Caesarism any more than he did socialism. The Republic 
still existed though Louis Napoleon was its president, 
and Thiers will be found. defending this Republic against 
Caesarism as he had defended it against socialism. He 
bowed before the force of circumstances, but not to the 
point of sacrificing the principles and convictions of his 
life. 

It is but just to say of the old liberal party, of the old 
dynastic Opposition, vanquished in February, with the 
Dynasty itself, and even of a great part of the majority 
which followed Guizot, that it remained true, in spite of 
the part that it took in the election of Louis Napoleon 
to the presidency, to the great principle of self-govern- 
ment. The Journal des De'bats said on March nth, 1848, 
almost the day after the February revolution : " The dis- 
cussions of the constitutional monarchy have perished with 
that monarchy. Political questions no longer exist ; social 
questions supersede all others. * * * The question is 
whether the industrial, commercial and scientific fabric, 
which has existed in France for the last thirty years, will 
weather the storm through which it is now passing." 



jet. 51-52.] Republic of 1848. 153 

The moderate liberal party, which the Journal des Debats 
represented, had not suddenly deserted its former prin- 
ciples : social questions and political questions are really 
inseparable, and while it still preferred a constitutional 
monarchy, it wisely supported the Republic, the govern- 
ment de facto and the only rampart against Caesarism 
resolved, it is true, to get possession of it, to keep it out 
of the hands of the extreme republicans who were in 
the minority in the country, and to monarchize it, so to 
speak, as much as possible, by giving it the character 
known at a later period under the name of " Conservative 
Republic." Thiers found himself in a strong and impor- 
tant party in the Legislative Assembly, and, backed by his 
friends Odilon Barrot, Dufaure, de Tocqueville * and Leon 
Faucher, f who had become minister, he strove not to 
help on the Empire, but, on the contrary, to retard it ; 
to protect the liberties threatened by an hypocritical and 
unscrupulous ambition. 

To secure this end two things had to be done : I. To 
rally round the Constitution as large a conservative party 
as possible, by drawing off from Napoleon those who fol- 
lowed him because of fear of republicanism, — the timid 
conservatives before whose eyes the "red spectre" was ever 
rising ; 2. To consolidate the republicans, by pledging the 
party to respect the Constitution and defend it from any at- 

*Alexis de Tocqueville, (1805-1859), the celebrated author of Democracy 
in America. 

* Faucher, (1803-1854), economist, journalist and liberal statesmen; 
deputy in 1846 ; deputy and minister under the republic of 1848 ; and 
retired from public life on the advent of the Empire. 



1 54 Life of Thiers. [1849-51. 

tempt at a monarchical or Napoleonic coup d'etat. These 
were the two things that Thiers did or tried to do, and 
herein lies the explanation of his conduct up to the day 
when the destinies of France were abandoned to force. 

Current events are never thoroughly understood ; hence 
arises the difficulty of writing contemporary history. 
This policy — which we have just pointed out — Thiers 
publicly advocated in the Chamber and in the press, 
and yet, of all the acts of his long and intricate political 
life, perhaps none has been so misunderstood and so dis- 
torted. Many errors persistently survive even at this 
late day. Thiers is accused of not having preserved an 
equal balance between the two forces with which he 
wished to fight the common foe. On the one hand, 
according to the republicans, he sacrificed too much 
to the Order party, in voting for the expedition to 
Rome,* in speaking in favor of the law of March 15th, 
1850, which, while rendering primary education unsec- 
tarian, left the country districts to the mercy of the 
Jesuits, and in voting forthelawof May 31st, 1850, which 
mutilated universal suffrage ; on the other hand, he did 
not give hearty enough support to the friends of the 
Republic, and on some occasions even caused them in- 
quietude. For our part, we think the republicans mis- 
taken, and we say so the more willingly, since we were 

* The spirit of the revolution of 1848 spread into Italy, and at Rome a re- 
public was set up by Mazzini and Garibaldi. The Pope called upon France 
for aid, and Louis Napoleon, who had been recently elected president, sent 
an expedition to Rome, in April, 1849, which drove out the republicans and 
reinstated the Pope. 



jet. 52-54.] Republic of 1848. 1 55 

then of their opinion. Thiers could not have done less 
for the conservative party without dividing it, without 
throwing the largest portion of it into the arms of the 
simulating savior who opened them to receive it; he 
could not have done more for the republicans than he 
did, by his reiterated declaration of support of the Re- 
public, and of co-operation in defense of the threatened 
constitution. And Thiers's co-operation was substantial, 
for all that he did for the conservative party smote 
Napoleon: the law of May 31st, 1850, just referred to, 
lost Caesarism more votes than liberty. This is an im- 
portant point in Thiers's political life, and the following 
extract from one of his speeches, shows the sincerity of 
his sentiments at this period concerning Caesarism and 
the Republic. 

It was at the beginning of the year 185 1. The war 
that Louis Napoleon was making upon the constitution, 
which he had sworn to support, was becoming every day 
more alarming. General Changarnier,* who stood guard 
as it were to protect the National Assembly, had just 
been dismissed. A debate immediately began on this 
bold and significant act. Thiers was among the first to de- 
nounce the conspiracy. On January 17th, 185 1, in a reply 
to those who would appeal to the prerogatives of the 
executive power, and who maliciously foreboded a con- 

* Changarnier. (1793-1877,) served with distinction in Algeria during the 
July Monarchy ; was a deputy and commander of the Paris national guard 
during the Republic of 1848 ; exiled after the coup d'e'tat ; fought on the side 
of F ranee, in the Franco-German war ; and was a conservative life-senator 
under the present republic. 



1 56 Life of Thiers. [1851. 

flict between the President and the Assembly, he said in 
closing his speech : 

"Gentlemen, there are times when we should feel 
uneasy about the Executive. We are beginning to arrive 
at a period when we should demand new assurances 
concerning the power, the pledges and the intentions of 
the Executive. By this means the Executive would be 
led to make some useful reflections, which I do not think 
would humble him before the nation. But if the As- 
sembly give way, permit me to point out the following 
result : When two powers, brought face to face, have 
encroached one upon the other, if the one that has in- 
fringed be obliged to draw back, an unpleasantness 
results, it is true, in the very nature of things ; but if the 
one that has been encroached upon gives way, its feeble- 
ness is so evident that it is lost. There are but two 
powers to-day in the State : the executive power and the 
legislative power. If the Assembly yield, there will 
remain but one, and when this is accomplished, the 
form of government is changed. The Empire will soon 
follow, but when, is immaterial to me. What you say 
you do not wish, you will have this very day, if the 
Assembly yield, for there will be but one power. The 
order will be given at a fitting time : the Empire is made ! " 

Thiers, on descending from the tribune, was received 
with tremendous applause, and with the hearty congratu- 
lations of a large number of his colleagues, and the sitting 
came to an end amidst the greatest excitement. 



jet. 54.] Republic of 1848. 1 57 

The veil was torn away, and the approaching coup 
d'etat revealed. The Empire was established. Thiers no 
longer doubted it, for he knew the forces that were 
working for it: a secret ambition, prejudices" and the 
Napoleonic idolatry, which he had unthinkingly done so 
much to perpetuate. This latter fact only spurred him 
on to greater resistance. From this moment he is found 
marching with the Left, supporting every proposition 
protective of the Assembly. Some advanced republi- 
cans, led by a continued distrust of Thiers and over-con- 
fidence in the people — " the unseen sentinel," as Michel 
de Bourges once said — separated from their friends. A 
still larger body, made up of moderate men from the 
Right, had also seceded. But Thiers, nevertheless, stood 
firm, neglecting nothing by which he might hope to 
check the coming inglorious Brumaire. When on July 
19th, 185 1, M. de Mole and M. de Broglie, out of dislike 
for the Republic, supported a project that had for its 
object a revision of the constitution, so that the Presi- 
dent might be re-eligible, he voted against the measure, 
and advocated with all his strength the Baze resolution,* 
whose aim was to protect the Assembly from any illegal 
act on the part of the Executive. The Assembly, unfor- 
tunately, was mad and ungovernable. The reactionary 
party was divided between fear of the Empire and the 

* M. Baze proposed that the Chamber assign " to the Questors the power 
of summoning directly the armed force to protect the National Assembly." 
A questor in a French Assembly is a deputy who performs the duties of a 
treasurer. M. Baze, who resembles Thiers a little, holds a similar position 
in the present French Senate, of which he is a member. 



1 58 Life of Thiers. p I 8 5 i. 

Republic ; the clerical party leaned towards Napoleon, 
who seemed to promise them a flattering future; and the 
republicans, one-half defying the future master, and the 
other half confiding in the strong attachment of the 
Parisians for the Republic, were heedless or divided. 
The danger which Thiers had hoped to avert could no 
longer be warded off: about two weeks after the presen- 
tation of the Baze proposition, the coup oTe'tat was accom- 
plished. Thiers was arrested together with the elite of 
the Orleanist, legitimist and republican deputies. 

If M. Granier de Cassagnac * can be believed, the very 
thought of arresting Thiers filled the conspirators with 
joy. After handing over to an emissary a bundle of 
papers, on which was written the word Rubicon, and 
which contained all the decrees that were to be posted 
up the next day throughout Paris, Louis Napoleon and 
Mocquard,f his secretary, began to laugh " at the figure 
that the two littlest men in the Legislative Assembly 
— Thiers and Baze — would make, when they would 
find themselves prisoners in their night gowns." How- 
ever this may be, the following is the way the order was 
carried out in so far as concerns Thiers : — 

On the night of December 2nd, i 851, Thiers's residence 

* Adolphe Granier de Cassagnac, born in 1808, and father of Paul Granier 
de Cassagnac, the notorious political duelist, is like his son a strong Impe- 
rialist, and has held an important place in French journalism and politics 
since 1832, when he became one of the editors of the Journal des Debats. 
Both father and son are now (1878) members of the Chamber of Deputies. 

f Mocquard, (1791-1864,) confidant and friend of Napoleon III, became 
attached to the Prince and his cause in the early days of the July Monarchy, 
and was made a senator in 1863. 



^e t . 54 .] Republic of 1848. 159 

in the Place Saint-Georges was buried in sleep. A 
commissary of police got in without any noise with 
several of his men. He had gone through the mu- 
seum, the library, and then into the bedroom, when 
Thiers awoke. The officers pulled back the curtains 
of the bed, when Thiers, rubbing his eyes, exclaimed : 
"What is wanted of me?" "We have come," was 
the reply, " to search your house." " You, therefore, 
ignore the fact that I am a deputy ? " " No," was the 
response ; " but my orders must be executed." " It is a 
coup d'etat then?" "I cannot answer your questions; 
get up, if you please, and follow me." 

One of the apologists for the coup d 1 e'tat, M. Belouino,* 
has written these words : " The commissary paid no 
attention to the attitude of the ex-minister, and did not 
listen to the pleasantries that he took the liberty to in- 
dulge in." 

Thiers had the right and he used it, of treating with 
disdain and of piercing with his irony the clumsy imita- 
tors of the great crimes of that history which he knew 
too well, not to be struck with the grotesqueness of the 
contrast between this of to-day, and those of the past. 
In the cab that bore him to the prison of Mazas,f he saw 
fit to continue his indignant protestations, " as if," says 
M. Granier de Cassagnac, " he would by all sorts of com- 

*M. Belouino, a writer, who published in 1852 a book entitled : The History 
of a Coup d'etat, from which the citation in the text is made. 

f This prison is on the Boulevard Mazas, very near the Lyons depot, at 
Paris. 



i Go Life of Thiers. [1851-52. 

minatory arguments turn the officers from their duty." 
It was not in Thiers's nature to be impassible and to con- 
ceal his feelings. He knew how to be resigned, not how 
to bow the head in humility. 

His conduct in the prison was what it should have 
been. He felt in a moment that the blow that had struck 
him would wound France still more than him. He was 
not transferred to Ham, as were the greater part of his 
colleagues. Louis Napoleon, perhaps, remembered that 
he had made Thiers President of the Council in his 
" Provisional Government," at Boulogne in 1840.* He 
was permitted to gain the frontier. Mignet came to the 
prison and escorted his old friend to the Strasburg depot 
at Paris. From Strasburg Thiers went to Frankfort by 
the way of Kehl. 

His exile did not last long : a decree of August, 1852, 
permitted a certain number of the proscribed to return 
to France. Thiers was included among the favored ones 
without having requested it. On arriving at Paris, he 
resumed his historical studies. He had profited by his 
exile to visit Belgium, England, Switzerland and Italy, 
and to make new researches in the interest of his great 
work, the Consulate and Empire. 

* See page 99. 



CHAPTER VI. 
THIERS AND THE EMPIRE. — 1852-1870. 

The coup d'etat of December 2nd, 1851, and the new 
constitution of January 14th, 1852, paved the way for the 
second Empire, which was proclaimed on December 2nd.. 
1852, without a convulsion. 

Thiers, though permitted to return to France, as we 
have just seen, retired from public life, determined 
to occupy himself with literature so long as the Empire 
pursued the dictatorial regime instituted by the new 
constitution ; for, under such a government, nothing 
was to be done for the principle of order, which was now 
being carried to excess, and nothing could be done for 
the principle of liberty, which was banished from the 
political arena : nothing to do for the two principles 
which were the two poles of Thiers's policy. But the de- 
crees of November 24th, i860, and February and Decem- 
ber 1861, having loosened a little the grip of the consti- 
tution and given some liberty to the tribune, Thiers felt 
that he ought to accept the Empire as de facto and enter 
the political lists once more. A step in advance had been 
made towards parliamentary government ; public ©pinion 
began to awaken ; and a policy, patiently and wisely 



1 62 Life of Thiers. [1863. 

pursued, might bring about new concessions. Thiers, 
therefore, decided to revive again the war against all- 
powerful Caesarism, and to renew the struggle that he had 
before maintained to prevent it imposing itself upon 
France. He had just written in his history that " the 
country should never be surrendered to one man, no mat- 
ter who the man is, no matter what the circumstances 
are." * Would he not have been v/anting to himself, if 
he had kept silent, instead of repeating in a louder voice 
and in such a way tha't it would have been better under- 
stood, this grand truth so often forgotten in France? 

There was a stir at the Tuileries when it was known 
that Thiers intended to return to public life, and that he 
was to offei himself as a candidate for the Corps Legislatif 
in the second arrondissement f of Paris : the general elec- 
tions of 1863 were at hand. Louis Napoleon received 
the news calmly. But M. de Morny \ frowned. The Em- 
press was angry, and M. de Persigny, § the spokesman of 

* History of the Constdate and Empire, Vol. X, p. 796. 

f France is divided into departments, the departments into arrondisse- 
menis, the arrondissements into cantons, and the cantons into communes. 
In a political sense, an arrondissement resembles our congressional district. 

\ The Duke de Morny, (1811-1865), generally believed to be a son of 
Queen Hortense, mother of Napoleon III, began life as a soldier ; then 
turned business man ; entered politics in 1842 as a conservative deputy ; was 
a monarchial deputy under the Republic of 1848 ; one of the leaders in the 
coup d'e'tat ; for short time minister ; and deputy and President of the 
Corps Legislatif under the Empire. 

§ The Duke de Persigny, (1808-1872), became a staunch Bonapartist soon 
after the July Revolution ; participated in the Strasburg affair and also that 
of Boulogne ; a Bonapartist deputy under the government of 1848 ; one of 
the principle actors in the coup d'e'tat ; a minister and senator under the 
Empire ; and one of the Emperor's confidants. His letters on public affairs, 
published from time to time, were supposed to be inspired by Napoleon 
himself. 



jet. 66.] Thiers and the Empire. 163 

the Tuileries, attacked the redoubtable candidate in an im- 
pertinent letter, filled with thread-bare criticisms, whose 
import can be judged from this sentence : " In the face of 
this France.which has attained its present glorious and pros- 
perous condition since M. Thiers and his followers retired 
from power, universal suffrage will not support against the 
Government, which snatched the country from the abyss, 
those who allowed it to fall in." M. de Persigny deceived 
himself in believing that the electors would take his ac- 
cusations for serious. It is doubtful if it was the same 
with M. de Morny and Napoleon III, who, in spite of 
the delusive atmosphere in which he moved, began to see 
that Paris was falling away from him on all sides. But, 
however this may be, Thiers was elected deputy. 

Thiers had already marked out the course he should 
pursue : he would second the awakening of political life 
of the country, profit by the liberal concessions made by 
the Government to force others from it, and bring it back 
if possible to the regime which it had supplanted ; he 
would endeavor to throw light upon the condition of the 
finances, around which an administration, not over-scrupu- 
lous and without any real restraint, had cast a thick veil ; 
and, lastly, he would watch closely the foreign relations, 
which, since the Italian expedition, filled him with dis- 
quietude. His convictions, his past, his patriotism could 
not dictate to him another course. 

The whole of Thiers's home policy is found summed 
up in his great and memorable speech on the " Necessary 



164 Life of Thiers. \\m$. 

Liberties," which he delivered a few days after his entry 
into the Corps Legislatif, on January 1 ith, 1864, and in an- 
other speech, on the same subject, delivered on March 
28th, 1865. These two speeches are monuments of political 
science and eloquence, and are applicable to all countries. 
The exordium of the first speech reads like a page of 
autobiography. 

" I know that great assemblies have other things to do 
than to occupy themselves about individuals. But when 
I ask permission to speak to you for an instant concern- 
ing myself, an instant only, it is a duty that I think I owe 
my constituents who have asked of me no pledges, and 
all my colleagues whose confidence I desire to possess. 

" It is now thirty-four years, gentlemen, since I entered 
for the first time within this precinct. I was a member 
of the first Chamber of the July Monarchy, and of all the 
Chambers that succeeded each other from 1830 to 1848; 
then, under the Republic, I sat on the benches of the Con- 
stituent and Legislative Assemblies ; and now, here am I 
among you in the Corps Legislatif of the Empire. 

" Throughout this long period of time, I have seen pass 
away, men, institutions, opinions and even the affections, 
and, in the midst of the torrent which seemed as if it would 
sweep away everything before it, principles have alone 
stood firm — the social and political principles on which 
modern society rests. Even these were at times in im- 
minent danger : we have seen moments when society was 
in such disorder, that it was a question whether it would 



jet. 67.] Thiers and the Empire. i65 

ever be restored. Later it was the idea of liberty which 
seemed effaced from the human mind. Yet order is re- 
established and liberty is about to reappear. These 
grand principles are like those orbs which give us light : 
they are some times enveloped with clouds, only to burst 

forth again more brilliant than ever. 

****** 

" There are three principles which I think every worthy 
man should observe : the principle of national sovereignty, 
the principle of order and the principle of liberty. 

" I was born and I have lived in that school of '89, 
which believes that France has the right to dispose of its 
destinies, and to choose the government which it likes. 
I think that it ought to make use of this sovereignty but 
rarely, I even think that it would have been better if 
France had never had recourse to this power, if that were 
possible ; but, when it has spoken, its word should be 
law. It seems to me wanting in justice and good sense 
to strive to substitute individual views for the clearly 
expressed will of the nation. 

" But, when we have submitted to the legal government 
of our country, we have always the right to demand two 
things of it : order and liberty. * * * On this ground, 
even in the midst of the greatest confusion, I have always 
taken my stand. When in 1848 the Republic was pro- 
claimed in France, I submitted, although it was not the 
government of my past efforts, and I joined with the 
courageous men who, even here, defended order in an 



1 66 Life of Thiers. \\%b$. 

Assembly which, though large and passionate, was honest 
and brave, and knew how to listen to truths which were 
displeasing. 

" Order, gentlemen, was preserved, and France soon 
returned to monarchical principles. I again submitted, 
out of respect for the national will, but I forthwith re- 
tired from public life, for a very simple reason, because 
there was nothing to do for the principle of order which 
was preserved, and nothing to do for the principle of 
liberty which was deferred. 

" In my retirement, permit me to say, everybody knows 
what I did : I wrote with sincerity the history of my 
country. I would have contentedly passed the rest of 
my life there, if it had not been for the decrees of No- 
vember 24th, i860, and of February and December, 1861. 
You know what changes these decrees made in our insti- 
tutions. You could formerly come together only in 
silence in order to receive the bills laid before you by the 
Councillors of State, which you might discuss with them, 
but almost without any power to amend. Then came the 
budget, which was voted department by department, in 
the lump, and as regards supplementary credits, you could 
only find out about them through the auditors, that is to 
say, when it was too late to exercise a useful control. 

" The Emperor has changed all this ; he has restored 
political life by allowing you to discuss the Address. He 
has done more ; he has brought you face to face with his 
Government, by introducing here the Ministers without 



jet. 67.] Thiers and the Empire. 167 

portfolios,* and even a Minister with a portfolio, the 
Minister of State ; he has made your sittings public ; 
given you the right to vote the budget not department 
by department, but by sections ; and, as regards the 
supplementary credits, if he has not suppressed them, as 
was at first expected, he has diminished the time between 
the epoch of their discussion and the epoch of their em- 
ployment, and has thus given you an incontestable in- 
fluence over these credits. 

" Gentlemen, you will never find me either detracting 
or flattering. I do not say that these decrees contain all 
the liberties that we desire, but they do contain a consid- 
erable part of them, and they are the pledge of the rest. 
As for myself, I thank the Emperor for them. Ingrati- 
tude is a bad feeling and a bad return. 

" When these decrees were promulgated, I said to all 
those who held the same convictions as myself, that I 
thought, as they could now discuss here freely the coun- 
try's affairs, and as they could now co-operate for the re- 
establishment of the public liberties, abstention on their 
part, would be no longer wise, worthy or patriotic. I ad- 
vised them to take the oath of allegiance to the Emperor, 
and to participate in the elections either as electors or 
candidates. 

" I will admit to you, gentlemen, that after having given 

* Under the second Empire, there was a body of ardent friends of the 
Government, who, though neither heads of the different departments nor 
deputies, had the right to speak in the Chamber. They were called " Min- 
isters without portfolios." 



I 68 Life of Thiers. [1864-69. 

this advice, I would have liked to be excused from follow- 
ing it ; for having found in my retirement, study, exemp- 
tion from party troubles, and fair play, it was hard to 
return into the midst of the storms of public life. But 
the inconsistency would have been too great, to give ad- 
vice and then not follow it myself. 

" Furthermore, this last consideration influenced me 
decisively : in coming among you, no one could accuse 
me of ambition. At my age, after the posts that I have 
held in the State, I could only have one desire now : that 
of offering you the modest tribute of an experience dearly 
acquired, of discussing with you State affairs, with the 
country's interest at heart, not as a partisan, but filled with 
the hope of being able sometimes to offer you at least a 
trifling aid in your deliberations, and of not letting the 
last years of my life be entirely useless to my country." 

This preamble of such simple grandeur, the personal 
part of which is excused by the speaker's position, was 
followed by a complete and luminous exposition of the 
principles which are the essence of every free govern- 
ment, whether it bear the name of Republic or Monarchy, 
and without which governments, whatever may be their 
pretentions, are but dictatorships and despotisms. 

Napoleon had promised to give the country very nearly 
the same form of government that Thiers had rapidly 
sketched in his speech ; but he was slow in fulfilling 
his promises, to carry out — to use an expression which has 
become famous — " the crowning of the edifice." His 



jet. 67-72.] Thiers and the Empire. 1 69 

promises were really only lures. He feared liberty ; it 
was to him a Banquo's ghost. Many of his friends urged 
him not only to stop short in the new path upon which 
he had entered, but to retrace the steps he had already 
taken in the way of reform. His newspapers, and his 
most devoted orators heaped up sophism upon sophism 
in the hopes of bringing him back to his first and natural 
policy. Thiers was determined not to let his uncertain 
adversary escape him. In his speech of March 28th, 1865, 
he refuted all the objections that had been brought up 
against liberalizing the Empire, and showed -that new 
France, the France of the Revolution, was not destitute 
of the conditions necessary for the enjoyment of true 
liberty. On April 2nd, 1869, during the debate on the 
budget, having presented the exact state of the political 
institutions at that moment, in order to see what progress 
had been made since 1863, at which date the Empire 
began to introduce liberal reforms, and when Thiers re- 
entered the chamber, — -and having explained what further 
progress was possible, he summed up his theory of the 
" necessary liberties " in this wise : 

" In order that a nation be free, the citizen must enjoy 
absolute personal security, no matter what may be his 
opinions : this is individual liberty. He must receive in- 
struction from an untrammeled press not only concerning 
theories and doctrines, but also concerning all questions 
that interest the country : this is a free press. He must 
be independent in the choice of his representatives, not 



17° Life of Thiers. [1863-69. 

exposed to menaces and bribes : this is a free ballot. The 
representatives must know all the affairs of the country, 
and the will of the majority must be obeyed : this is 
legislative freedom. In fine, the national representatives 
must co-operate with a government that is ready to carry 
out the expressed wishes of the nation." 

This speech made a great impression, especially the per- 
oration, in which the orator revindicated the right of the 
country to declare war or peace. But this was not due 
simply to the expression of this opinion, which was but a 
corollary of the theory of the " necessary liberties," but 
because it was a warning, a symptom of the situation and 
the hidden designs of the Government. " That tremen- 
dous act," said Thiers, referring to the right to declare 
war, " to whom belongs its initiative ? To France alone. 
She should not be exposed to the danger of seeing, on 
awaking some morning, her children ordered to the fron- 
tier !" 

A despotism is by its nature not economical of the 
public funds. Montesquieu's comparison of a despotism 
to the " savage who cuts down the tree to have its 
fruits," is always more or less true. In civilized societies 
corruption is palliated, and hidden, but it always exists in 
a greater or less degree, according to the age, the country 
and the people. 

The Empire had almost doubled the budget of the 
July Monarchy and the February Republic. The field 
of the unproductive expenses was greatly enlarged. The 



je-t. 66-72.] Thiers and the Empire. 1 7 1 

Government endeavored to hide this from the public by 
illusive complications and subterfuges. 

Thiers — who understood thoroughly the secrets of the 
science of finance, and who knew all the artifices em- 
ployed since 1852 to deceive the country — had entered the 
Chamber with the firm resolve to give to the examination 
of the budget the most scrupulous attention. His first 
speech, (December 24th, 1863,) was on the finances. He 
took up the floating debt and pointed out its enormous 
proportions, the obscurity which surrounded it, and dwelt 
upon the evil effects of this on trade, and upon the good 
name of the country. On another occasion, he attacked 
the financial follies of the city of Paris, where the tax- 
payers did not know what was done with their money, 
and which state of things occasioned all sorts of suspicions 
of malversation and peculation. 

The Empire — forced at any price to keep the public 
mind engaged, by continually offering it some new subject 
for discussion — bethought itself of the free trade question. 
M.Rouher* — Minister of State during the latter half of the 
Empire — was easily persuaded into accepting the theories 
and arguments of Bright and Cobden. 

Free trade has incontestable advantages in great pro- 
ductive countries not dependent on foreign nations for 

* Rouher (1814 ) advocate; conservative deputy and minister of Justice 

under the February Republic ; senator and minister under the Empire ; and 
Bonapartist deputy since 1876. He negotiated free trade treaties with 
England in i860, with Belgium in 1861, and with Italy in 1863. His duty 
as Minister of State, was to support the policy of the Government in the 
Corps Legislatif. 



172 Life of Thiers. [1870. 

those things which are essential to national defense, as 
iron, for example. England is such a country. Was 
France in a state to accept the new theories born of Eng- 
land ? This is a difficult question to answer, since certain 
parts of France favor free trade, while others are opposed 
to it. 

However this may be, Thiers took up the side of protec- 
tion and advocated it in the tribune, with the abundance 
and variety of argument of a man profoundly versed in 
the subject. The discussion which ensued resulted, how- 
ever, only in the appointment of a parliamentary com- 
mittee to enquire into the commercial condition of 
France. Thiers, though offered a position on the com- 
mittee, declined the honor. 

The year 1870 had arrived : the foreign relations of the 
Empire were becoming complicated, and were daily grow- 
ing more and more disquieting to the patriot. The Em- 
pire, on account of its home policy, on account of its 
origin, which was not forgotten, and on account of the 
opposition encountered in all the great cities of France, 
which all its democratic pretensions did not disarm, was 
compelled to seek abroad an outlet for the country's rest- 
lessness, and was forced to agitate the world. The prime 
cause of the Crimean war * was to divert the public 
mind and to please the army. The Italian warf had been 
undertaken through fear of the dagger. \ The Mexican 
* 1854-56. f 1859. 

% Towards the end of the year 1858, Napoleon III received every morn- 
ing a letter from Italy or Paris, which reminded him of his former promises to 



yE T . 73 .] Thiers and the Empire. 173 

warf — suggested by the little circle that surrounded 
the Emperor, and having in view very ignoble aims — was 
magnified little by little into a grandiose conception, 
which Napoleon loved to dilate upon, without perhaps 
believing in it himself, and which he was accustomed to 
pronounce the grand idea of the reign. But, whatever 
were the real or pretended objects of these enterprises, 
they produced only keen anxiety in the minds of all sen- 
sible men who knew the then state of Europe. 
^ Thiers's mistrust of Napoleon III was of longstanding. 
Though captivated for a moment by the Crimean war — in 
which, however, he clearly distinguished the dynastic in- 
terests — he had no faith in the narrow and chimerical 
spirit of the chief. The Italian and Mexican wars more 
alarmed than astonished him. From the moment of his 
re-entering Parliament, his greatest care was to watch 
and combat the foreign policy of the Empire. It was at 
that moment a thankless and painful task for a patriot 

free Italy from the Austrian yoke, and which threatened him with death if he 
forgot them. One day, when Cardinal Gousset, Archbishop of Reims, came 
to beseech him not to begin the war which he had threatened — a war that 
would result in the destruction of the temporal power of the Papacy — Napo- 
leon's sole response, was going to a drawer in his secretary and taking there- 
from a bundle of papers which he laid before the Cardinal. They were the 
letters of the friends of Orsini, the Italian revolutionist, who attempted to 
assassinate Napoleon in January, 1858. We have this from a former secre- 
tary of M. de Falloux, the distinguished ultramontane political and literary 
leader. 

f It is very probable that Guizot had something to do with this expedition. 
Napoleon III often consulted him. This reminds us of a witty and rather 
prophetic remark of M. Paul Bethmont, the deputy. Jules Simon said to 
him one day before us, as we were passing the Tuileries, (we believe it was 
in 1868) that Guizot sometimes advised the Emperor. " My heavens," said 
M. Bethmont, " if he wants to know how to fall, he can't find a better 
master." This war lasted from 1862 to 1863, but the French troops were 
not entirely withdrawn till 1867. 



174 Life of Thiers. [1859-64. 

and statesman l'ike Thiers : he could point out the evil, 
but he could not apply the remedy. Napoleon III had 
not the breadth of mind to comprehend the extravagance 
of the system which he had built up, nor enough modesty 
to take advice from a superior and more experienced 
mind. The great legislative bodies of the State — the 
Senate and the Corps L^gislatif — moulded after the 
master, thought as he did even when they condemned his 
thought. Every road towards reform was, therefore, 
closed. This, however, made Thiers only the more de- 
termined in his attack. The Italian and Mexican wars 
were accomplished facts when he re-entered Parliament 
in 1863, but their consequences remained, pregnant of 
issues still more dangerous. He stubbornly main- 
tained that the first resulted from previous mistakes, 
and declared that the latter would be fatal if the system 
were not changed. 

In 1864, the folly of the Mexican policy of the Empire — 
though it had not yet produced all its fruits — was too 
evident to require long or frequent speeches to convince 
the public of it. The impossibility of success on one 
hand, and the danger of a rupture with the United States 
on the other, struck everybody. Thiers did not dwell 
upon this view of the question, in the debates concerning 
the Mexican expedition, that took place in the Chamber, 
but he repeatedly called attention to the effect that such 
a distant and expensive undertaking would have on the 
financial and military strength of France, in need of all 



Mt. 62-67.] Thiers and the Empire. 175 

its force to meet the enemies which the adventurous 
policy of the Empire had made in Europe, and to defend 
itself against the results of the Italian war, which, though 
finished five years before, still hung suspended over the 
continent like a cloud charged with electricity, ready to 
flash forth at any moment. 

A lady, who knew Napoleon III very intimately, being 
asked one day in London by Louis Blanc, what she 
thought of her former friend, replied : " He always had 
on me the effect of a woman," meaning by this, that he 
had only the appearance of vigor, and that his mind was 
as wavering and variable as it was chimerical. This opin- 
ion — whose justice Louis Blanc does not question — is at 
least confirmed by the whole sequel of the Italian war. 
Everything is indecisive and incoherent. It is given out, 
that war is to be carried into Italy for the sake of an idea, 
and this idea is scarcely born, before it is deprived of life. 
" Italy must be free from the Alps to the Adriatic," said 
Napoleon in one of his proclamations, and the army stops 
short before the Quadrilateral,* as if the existence of such 
a barrier were unknown, as if it had suddenly sprung up 
from the soil. After the victory of Solferino, June 24th, 
1859, ^ began to be seen that Prussia made a part of 
Europe, and, in order to steer clear of this danger, a 
hasty treaty is made with Austria, at Villafranca, on July 

* A Quadrilateral, in military language, denotes a combination of four 
fortresses, not of necessity connected, but mutually supporting each other. 
The Austrian Quadrilateral referred to, compiused the four strong forts of 
Mantua. Verona, Peschiera, and Legnago, in Northern Italy. 



176 Life of Thiers. [ X 86 5 . 

nth, 1859. Italy does not realize her hopes and champs 
her bit. The Papacy — seeing its temporal power threat- 
ened — complains loudly. In order to get out of the diffi- 
culty, the Italian Confederation is formed, the Presidency 
of which is given to the Pope, who looks with disdain 
upon an artificial conception hastily improvised. Italy 
is thrown into commotion, and Sicily and the Kingdom 
of Naples fall before Garibaldi. Piedmont joins the 
patriotic movement which is irresistible. The Papacy is 
about to be swept away by the torrent. Intervention 
saves it, and the short-sighted convention of September 
15th, 1864* is entered into, which was of necessity one 
day to bring Piedmont to Rome, and to add the ruins of 
St. Peter to that of so many other Italian thrones. Never 
did a government try harder to do something grand and 
so utterly fail in the attempt. 

It was at the session of 1865, of the Corps Legislatif, 
on the occasion of a debate concerning the convention 
of September 15th, that Thiers was led to speak of the 
Italian question. He had no difficulty in showing that 
the conciliation aimed at by the convention was impossi- 
ble, that neither of the interests concerned would capitu- 
late, neither the Italian nor the Catholic, that one of the 
two would be necessarily sacrificed, and that all the chances 

* '•' Let me sum up this convention in two words : we are to evacuate Rome 
in 18 months from to-day, two years from last September. On the other 
side, the Italians will change their capital and carefully respect the Papal 
territory. Such is the material form of the engagements entered into." — 
Speech of Thiers on April 15th, 1865. Napoleon and Victor Emanuel 
were the parties to this convention. 



jet. 68.] Thiers and the Empire. 177 

were against the Catholic interest. And he added with a 
prescience that later events justified, that not only the 
Papacy would not be saved, as was apparently desired, but 
that Italy, by opposing its dearest wish, would be alienat- 
ed from France, and that this wish would be realized 
in spite of France, perhaps even against France ; that 
Italian unity, not abetted by France, would be accom- 
plished by the aid of Prussia. The inconsistency and 
hypocrisy of the French policy in Italy was rendered 
transparent by Thiers's speech. The course of events 
was to show its blindness. 

Mistakes are born of mistakes by a sort of fatal descent, 
and, as it is in the nature of things that some one turn 
up just in the nick of time to reap advantage from the 
mistakes of others, Bismarck appeared, who, taking in at 
the first glance the insufficiency of Napoleon, the inco- 
herency of his mind and designs, put himself in the way 
to turn this to his benefit. In a letter written after his 
second visit to Napoleon III, Bismarck, in order to ex- 
press his idea of the Emperor, cited the following well- 
known verse of La Fontaine : 

De loin, cest qnelque chose ; et de pres, ce nest rien* 

Napoleon, in the midst of his dreams, always had his 
eye fixed on the Rhine. He imagined that by bustling 
about and keeping Europe in a state of agitation, he could 
in the end secure to France, forcibly or peacefully, her 

* Afar, it is something, but near by, nothing. Fables, Book IV, Fable X. 



178 Life of Thiers. [1863-66. 

old frontier. After the Italian campaign, towards 1862, 
he began to hope that he might bring this about pacifically, 
simply through the magic influence of his " principle of 
nationalities." One day, while on a visit to a former 
colonel of engineers, mayor of a city in the neighborhood 
of the camp at Chalons, where the Emperor frequently 
went, the old soldier expressing a regret that France 
did not have its frontiers on the Rhine, the Emperor 
remarked : " Don't despair of the Rhine, colonel ; what 
would you say if we should get it back without firing 
a gun r 

On that day the secret thoughts of the " Taciturn," so 
well characterized by Lord Cowley, at one time English 
Minister to France, when he said that " he always lies 
though he never speaks," — on that occasion, Napoleon di- 
vulged his real intentions. The Rhenish frontier was 
the temptation that lured him on, the deceitful mirage 
with which Bismarck charmed him. It is the secret of his 
whole policy from 1863 to 1866. It explains the aban- 
donment of Denmark to be preyed upon by Prussia in 
1864,* by which act England and all the small states 
were alienated from France. It was the source of 
the odd conception of an European Congress, f for the re- 
modeling of the map of Europe, where the Emperor 

* Denmark was forced by Prussia and Austria to cede its southern prov- 
ince of Schleswig-Holstein in 1864, Austria occupying Holstein and Prussia 
Schleswig, but after the war with Austria, in 1866, Prussia became the pos- 
sessor of both. 

\ On November 4th, 1863, Napoleon III, without any forewarning, sud- 
denly addressed autographic circulars to the sovereigns of Europe, inviting 
them to meet in Paris for a general consideration of European affairs. But 
the project fell through. 



vEt. 66-69.] Thiers and the Empire. 1 79 

should play the part of arbiter and doubtless also that of 
" pedagogue," to use the expression of Bismarck.* 

It is the reason of his denunciation of the treaty of 1 8 1 5 
in a speech delivered at Auxerre, in which were expressed 
sentiments that he dared not utter officially. It was the 
main spring of his ambition to arrange Europe according 
to the laws of a new sort of transcendental aesthetics, which 
was to give to Prussia, " badly bounded," as was said, a 
form more in conformity to its mission. In a word, it 
was the cause of all those fancies of a poorly balanced 
head, of all those phantoms of a mind intoxicated by its 
dreams, so brutally dissipated by the cannon of Sadowa.f 

Thiers's fears concerning the result of this policy in- 
creased daily. In 1866, a few days before the defeat 
of Austria, he mounted the tribune and tried to make 
the Chamber feel the gravity of the German conflict, and 
the importance of the intervention of France, which, 
by a simple demonstration, could arrest all. He called 
attention to the danger to France of Italian unity and 
German unity, the hypocritical complicity of France, and 
the old equilibrium of Europe destroyed by the probable 
victory of Prussia. 

Prussia was victorious as Thiers had predicted, and the 
North German Confederation, the first step towards the 
German Empire, was founded. Bismarck did not show 

* Bismarck said in a speech delivered on February 19th 1869 : " I do not 
think that we are bound to follow in the steps of Napoleon and affect the 
role of arbiter or that of pedagogue of Europe." 

f The battle of Sadowa occurred on July 3d, 1866. 



180 Life of Thiers. [1859-67. 

himself in the least disposed to pay his confederate, 
become his dupe, the price which, if not promised, he 
had at least allowed him to expect. 

Every thing was not lost, however. A wise, pacific, 
but firm policy could still, with the resources remaining to 
France, and backed by the apprehensions of Europe, have 
kept the evil from spreading, if it could not have repaired 
what was already lost. But a new madness had replaced 
the old. Having allowed himself to be duped when he 
was strong, the Emperor was possessed with the idea to 
have revenge, now that he was feeble. Weakened by 
the consequences of the Mexican expedition and de- 
based before European public opinion, Napoleon III was 
eager to punish Prussia. 

At the session of 1867, Thiers made a new effort to 
bring France back to the old policy, and developed with 
his customary warmth and clearness, the reasons which 
called for this change, if new disasters were not be added 
to those which an opposite policy had brought down up- 
on the country. Thiers was only the interpreter of pub- 
lic opinion in demanding this change. All far-seeing men 
thought with him. The press, the salons, the workshops 
held the same sentiments concerning the perils that the 
foreign policy of the Government was in danger of en- 
countering. 

As proof of this, if we turn to the private correspond- 
ence of a man of the world of the period, we will find 
him saying in his letters, just what Thiers spoke in a loud 



jet. 62-70.] Thiers and the Empire. 1 8 1 

voice from the tribune of the Corps Legislatif. M. Dou- 
dan, whom M. Fleury called " a free-thinker in high 
society,"* and whom we have already referred to, as the 
friend and former preceptor of the Duke de Broglie,f 
had — if we except a few moments of optimism before the 
coup d'etat — like, Thiers, an early presentiment of the 
baneful destiny of Louis Napoleon, and of the disasters 
that he was likely to inflict upon his country. All of his 
correspondence is full of traits showing the keen observer 
and witty writer. But it is above all, in 1859, anc ^ con " 
cerning the foreign policy of the Empire, that his judg- 
ments are valuable to those who are curious to know the 
effect produced on the enlightened minds of the period, 
by the series of theatrical performances which made up 
the history of the foreign policy of the Empire. 

He wrote in February 1859, a ^ ew weeks after the Em- 
peror's words addressed on New-year's-day to Baron 
Htibner, the Austrian ambassador, which showed that he 
meant to begin the threatened Italian war : " Nothing is 
more like a lottery, than the decision of one single man, 
left, without counsel and without control, to the most 
complicated and contradictory influences. Perhaps he 
sees every thing in equilibrium, but a breath, a sensible 
or a foolish word, changes all. This is an important side 
of the philosophy of history.' He then points out the 
folly of the Emperor's course : " If he had resolved 
upon war, the simplest prudence would have suggested 

* In the Revue des Deux Mondes. f See page 84. 



1 82 Life of Thiers. £1862-69. 

to him that he let everybody sleep in ignorance of it, 
in order that he might not be disturbed in his prepara- 
tions, that public opinion might not be excited, or the 
foreign press aroused, and that the defensive opera- 
tions of the enemy might be retarded." As early as 1862, 
M. Doudan considered the fall of the Empire probable. 
Three years later — foreseeing the fatal consequences of 
the Mexican war — he longed for a Cato who might cry 
daily at the Government: "Shun Mexico!" The day 
after Sadowa, he predicted the inevitable encounter of 
France and Prussia in the near future, and called the 
German Empire by its true name: " The Prussian Em- 
pire." " Teach your little boy the use of the breech- 
loading needle-gun," he wrote to a friend. On July 3d, 
1866, the date of Sadowa, he wrote: "Sooner or later, 
lots of breech-loaders will be necessary to repair the evil 
that has been allowed to happen this day. Can you 
understand the mania that has taken possession of every 
body, of setting up against himself neighbors more pow- 
erful than he is?" On April 12th, 1867, referring to the 
speech of Thiers of which we have just spoken, M. Dou- 
dan wrote : " You must have read very inattentively the 
battle between M. Rouher and M. Thiers, to hesitate 
which side to take between these two combatants. I 
only wish that M. Thiers were a thousand times wrong 
in his exposition of our foreign affairs ; we don't know 
where we are in this matter. Since Prussia, encouraged 
by us, has extended her frontiers, and become the most 



jet. 65-72.] Thiers and the Empire. 183 

powerful empire of the continent, we are not at all at 
ease when war with her is spoken of." And lastly, in 
lW&,h-propos of the taking of pictures from the Louvre 
to decorate the houses of the dignitaries of the Empire, 
he remarked : " These gentlemen remind you of Thermo- 
pylae, for they say : ' Passers-by, go tell to whomsoever 
you will, that we are here to violate the laws, to mock at 
morality, and to laugh at the battle of Sadowa, and at 
those who are depressed by the inordinate greatness of 
Prussia. After us the deluge : we will have had a gay 
time.' " 

To cite one more example of prognostication of the 
approaching ruin, we quote these prophetic words of 
Prevost-Paradol * written in 1868: " France will have to 
expiate, in one way or another, with the blood of her 
children, if she succeed, with the loss of her grandeur, 
perhaps of her very existence, if she fail, the series of 
faults committed in her name by the Government, since 
the day when Denmark was dismembered before her eyes, 
and a policy of general disorder was adopted in the hope 
of profiting by it.'' 

France was far from a Thermopylae, but the deluge was 
approaching. Many persons hoped for a moment, after 
the general elections of 1869, that the change of public 
opinion, which had considerably strengthened the repub- 

* Prevost-Paradol (1829-1870), professor, journalist and author, was 
throughout his life the champion of constitutional monarchy, and conse- 
quently, a bitter opponent of the Empire. He was French minister to this 
country, when, upon hearing of the declaration of war between France and 
Prussia, he shot himself. 



184 Life of Thiers. [1869-70. 

lican and liberal Opposition, would impose upon the Gov- 
ernment a more national policy both at home and abroad. 
The ministry formed on January 2nd, 1869, with M. 
Ollivier * at its head, was expected to inaugurate a new era. 
Thiers hoped so for a moment, for he had friends in the 
new ministry. " My ideas find representation there," 
he said one day in the Corps Legislatif, pointing to the 
ministerial benches. But the plebiscitum \ of May sud- 
denly appeared and re-awakened all his former apprehen- 
sions. War appeared to him almost inevitable. The 
Opposition, which partook of his fears, but which wished 
to show to Europe that France did not want war, and 
which hoped, at the same time, to exercise some influence 
on the mind of the Emperor, proposed a reduction of the 
army of 10,000 on the quota of 1871. The Government, 
in order to hide its intentions, assented to this measure. 
Thiers, better informed, broke this time with the Oppo- 
sition, persuaded that it was of prime importance to be 
in a condition to make war. His motto was : Si vis 
pacem, para belliim.% He believed that too much attention 
could not be given to this subject. He was thoroughly 

* Ollivier (1825 ), advocate, deputy, and minister, was at first a strong 

opponent of the Empire, and when he became Napoleon's Prime Minister, 
and presided over the cabinet that declared war against Prussia, he was 
looked upon as a political renegade. He was elected a member of the 
French Academy in 1870, and has since disappeared from public view. 

f A plebiscitum (French, plebiscite), was a Napoleonic dodge, resorted to 
by both the first and the second Emperor, to legitimize, by a specious re- 
course to universal suffrage, illegal acts or pretended reforms. The vote of 
May 8th, 1870, stood thus: for the plebiscitum, 7,336,434, against it, only 
1,560,709. 

X If you want peace, prepare for war. 



jet. 72-73.] Thiers and the Empire. i85 

acquainted with the state of Europe ; he saw the increased 
power of Prussia, which, since Sadowa, instead of nineteen 
millions of souls as formerly, now had forty millions. 
" In consideration of this new force," he said, " we need 
a new and stronger military organization. * * * We 
should not be deceived. I abjure each one of you to 
think on the gravity of the situation, and I supplicate 
you to do your duty as patriots and worthy French- 
men." And he uttered in a reply to Jules Favre,* who 
supported the reduction, these prophetic words : " Why 
did Sadowa take the world by surprise ? Because Vienna 
was not prepared and Berlin was. Thus perish Empires !" 
Thus, indeed, was to perish the Empire of Napoleon III. 
The candidacy of a prince of the Prussian royal family 
to the Spanish throne, put forward by Bismarck with the 
consent doubtless of General Prim, the temporary ruler 
of Spain, who, if certain reports are to be believed, was 
bought over by German thalers, was the prime cause of 
the dreadful conflict. On July 5th, 1870, M. Cochery,f 
deputy from the Loiret, called upon the Government for 
an explanation of this candidacy, which was only con- 
tingent, and, the next day, the Duke de Gramont, minister 

* Jules Favre (1809 ), famous advocate and liberal statesmen ; deputy 

and minister under the February Republic ; opposed Napoleon from the days 
of the coup d'e'lat to his fall ; ably defended Orsini, the would-be assassin 
of the Emperor, in 1858 ; deputy under the Empire ; elected to the French 
Academy in 1868 ; one of the prime movers in the establishment of the 
present republic, and to-day (1878) a senator. 

f Cochery (1820 ), Opposition deputy under the Empire, moderate re- 
publican since 1871, and ardent supporter of Thiers during the latter's 
presidency. 



1 86 Life of Thiers. \x%^q. 

of foreign affairs, declared that France would not suffer 
a foreign power, by placing one of its princes on the 
throne of Charles V, to endanger the equilibrium of Eu- 
rope and imperil the interests and honor of France. 

Such a statement was equivalent to a declaration of 
war. There was, however, an interval of hope for the 
friends of peace. Prince Leopold of Hohenzollern 
withdrew his candidacy. The war party wanted more. 
On July 1 2th, the Emperor left St. Cloud for the 
Tuileries to preside at the Council, and it was then de- 
cided, that they should demand of the King of Prussia a 
promise, that would interdict for all time the throne of 
Spain to any member whatsoever of his family. This 
was carrying things to extremes, and the King of Prussia 
could not do otherwise than repel this haughty demand. 

A most terrible war was about to be begun over a 
question of etiquette, a point of honor, a shade of mean- 
ing. When Emile Ollivier came before the Corps Legis- 
latif for the last time with the question and asked for a 
vote of confidence, Thiers tried to show the futility of 
the reasons alleged by the Government to justify a move 
so full of peril, and which set at naught the opinion of 
Europe. We were present at that memorable sitting of 
the Corps Legislatif, at that struggle of enlightened 
patriotism against the delirium of a blind majority. We 
can never forget the scene, one of the most dramatic in 
the parliamentary history of France, a day whose con- 
sequences mark a date in the history of Europe. 



jet. j 3-] Thiers and the Empire. 187 

The President, M Schneider, at the moment Thiers 
rose to speak, saw fit to remark that the solemnity of the 
question in debate called for unanimity of sentiment and 
a forgetfulness of all petty differences. Thiers repelled 
this insinuation in this wise : " When war is declared, no 
one will be more eager than I, to render the efforts of the 
Government victorious. My patriotism is equal to any- 
body's here. * * * But the question before us is a 
declaration of war." The orator then went bravely on — 
interrupted every moment by questions, by cries of op- 
position or cheers of approbation — attacking the proposed 
declaration. " Every one here," he exclaimed, " has only 
to take upon himself the responsibility that belongs to 
him. As for me, I am concerned about my memory, and 
I decline all responsibility in this affair." Further on he 
remarked : " I regard this war as very imprudent." A 
Bonapartist interrupted him and said : " You are the 
trumpet of the disasters of France. Go to Coblentz ! " * 
Thiers coolly replied : " I repeat, in spite of your cries, 
that you have choosen poorly the occasion for obtaining 
the satisfaction that I desire as well as you." M. Jerome 
David,f of the Right, who favored the war, accused him 
of using language that was harmful to the country. 
Thiers, who had left the tribune, remounted and an- 
swered with redoubled energy : " It is not I who have 

* During the French Revolution, the nobility who fled from France, (the 
Emigre's), made their head-quarters at this city. 

f Baron David (1823 ),the ultra-Bonapartist.was a member of the Corps 

Legislatif throughout the Empire, and has been a deputy under the present 
republic since 1876. 



j8S Life of Thiers. [1870. 

hurt France. I have never harmed her; it is those who 
would not listen to my warnings, when I spoke here of 
Sadowa and Mexico, who have wounded her. * * * 
You wish to check Prussia ; so do I. Taunt me with be- 
ing a friend of Prussia ; the country will judge between 
you and me. But I leave the tribune worn out by your un- 
willingness to listen to me." 

This debate was Thiers's Waterloo : his oratory was 
never grander nor ever less effective. The last folly of 
the Empire was neither arrested nor averted. Destiny 
had spoken and the penalty was pronounced : France 
was to suffer a series of unprecedented disasters and the 
Empire a profound and final fall. 



CHAPTER VII. 

THE REVOLUTION OF SEPTEMBER 4TH. 

There have been many revolutions in France which have 
had a character of legitimacy, or which, at least, have laid 
claim to a theory or political doctrine. The revolution 
of 1789 was made in the name of two great principles, the 
sovereignty of the people and the sovereignty of reason. 
The revolution of 1830 was a protest against the violation 
of the Social Contract* The revolution of 1848 was a vin- 
dication of political rights disregarded or usurped by a 
privileged class, or at least by a class which was looked 
upon as privileged. These grand events were not accom- 
plished, however, without coming into collision with not 
only private and collective interests, but also with doc- 
trines and principles ready to protest and even combat. 
The revolution of September 4th, 1871, is the only one 
of all the political revolutions, so numerous in France, 
which was accomplished without resistance, simply, easily, 
naturally, inevitably. The reason of this was because 
the Empire never had had the veritable characteristics of 
a real government, because when threatened it could not 

* Rousseau's political work, the Social Contract, (Contrat social), is the 
catechism of the French Revolution, and is used as synonymous with the 
principles of the Revolution. 



190 Life of Thiers. \\%-v. 

call to its aid a principle that it had not itself denied or 
violated, because it had against it at this moment its 
origin and its conduct. Usurper of the sovereignty and 
powerless to protect the country, it had for enemies those 
who believed in liberty and those who believed in inde- 
pendence. When the storm burst, its partisans and 
servitors were as if paralyzed. It appeared perfectly 
natural that the Empire should perish in the tempest that 
it had excited, but which it could not master. Its au- 
thority having emanated from force, from the moment 
that it had ceased to be strong, it had no raison d'etre. 
This truth was so evident to all, that from the moment 
of the news of the first disasters of the war of iSyo~yi T 
the deputies of the Corps Legislatif were convinced that 
it was useless to try to prop up the Empire, and their 
only concern was to smooth its fall, by giving to the revo- 
lution the appearance of legality. But no one spoke of 
the legitimacy of the existing Government or of its right 
to govern. If it was allowed to stand, it was in virtue 
of the wisdom of the old saying, that one should never 
change horses while crossing the stream. Not only the 
enemies of the Empire, but its friends too, looked at the 
situation in this light. The deputies who were elected 
as official candidates — if we except perhaps the " Mame- 
lukes," * who clung to the dynasty through personal or 
interested motives — held the same views on this point 

* The Mamelukes — meaning in Arabic, purchased slaves — were formerly 
a class of Egyptian bondmen. This name was happily applied by the anti- 
Bonapartists to the blind and servile friends of the Empire. 



/Et. 73.] Revolution of September \th. 1 9 1 

as Thiers, Keratry,* Picard f and Cochery. They would 
tolerate the Government, though they would not sustain 
it. If they could have changed or transferred the supreme 
authority without danger and without confusion, if they 
had had at hand a monarchy or a dynasty all ready 
formed, or even a general endowed with the necessary 
qualities or enjoying the prestige demanded by the occa- 
sion, they would not have hesitated an instant to clear 
the Tuileries.^ 

Consequently, as they could do no better, they took 
upon themselves the direction of affairs and the sover- 
eignty. The whole aim of the Corps Legislatif from 
August 20th to September 4th, 1870, was to discover a 
political combination which could preserve, in the midst 
of the ruins of the artificial edifice which had fallen, 
public order, and to build up in the Corps Legislatif an 
authority which should meet the demands of the hour. 
The revolution was so thoroughly the result of public 
opinion and the circumstances of the moment, that it 
forced itself upon those who feared it the most. The 
usurpation by the people came after that by the Corps 
Legislatif. It is one of the characteristics of the revolu- 
tion of September 4th, that it was made a long time be- 

* Count de Keratry (1832 ), began life as a soldier, became an Opposi- 
tion deputy in 1869, but has not participated in public life since 1870. 

f Ernest Picard (1821-1877), journalist and advocate ; Opposition deputy 
under the Empire ; member of the Government of National Defense in 
1870 ; minister under Thiers ; and deputy and life-senator under the present 
republic. 

% Thiers's testimony before the Committee of Inquiry on the Revolution 
of September 4th, {Commission d'Enqttete du 4 Septernbre.) 



192 Life of Thiers. [.8 7 o. 

fore it broke out ; it was the last term of a series of 
usurpations, the crowning of a succession of illegalities. 
There are those in France to-day who think it to their 
interest to protest against this revolution ; but they forget 
that they did not wait for the disaster at Sedan to change 
the government. The Corps Legislatif, the very day of 
its convocation — not content with casting aside the 
miserable ministry which had so thoughtlessly declared 
the war — arraigned the head of the State himself, who 
was not, however, responsible to it, and, going still 
further, deprived him of the command of the army,* 
thereby violating one of the most essential principles of 
the Constitution, and exposing itself to the danger of 
seeing turned against itself, the army whose chief it had 
struck down. 

The imperial Constitution, tearing itself to pieces by 
its own hands, and offering itself of its own accord to the 
castigation of awakened justice, presents a curious and 
instructive lesson to the world. All the parts of this 
dictatorial instrument made with so much care, suddenly 
get out of order and clash one with the other. The 
moment the hour of reverse sounded, France, which had 
sacrificed so much to secure a strong government, found 
itself in a day brought face to face with a government, 
which not only could no longer govern, but which could 
no longer stand. The executive power, which was to be 
every thing, was now nothing, and the Corps Legislatif, 

* Bazaine was named Commander-in-chief in the place of Napoleon. 



jet. 73.] Revolution of September 4th. 193 

which, according to the spirit of the Constitution, was to 
be nothing, was now everything. The Senate, a modera- 
tive and conservative body, the keystone and the crown 
of the edifice, was forgotten in its palace by the public 
in the midst of its impotent majesty. The Corps Leg- 
islatif alone, the elect of the nation, by virtue of the 
principle that animated it, which still lived in spite of its 
long corruption, the Corps Legislatif alone survived the 
universal shipwreck. Such was the confusion of opin- 
ions and ideas, or rather such was the power of the elec- 
tive principle, represented by the Corps Legislatif, that 
all force irresistibly gravitated towards it, and obliged it 
involuntarily to declare the revolution and found the 
Republic. 

The Corps Legislatif could not have done otherwise. 
After the first disaster of the campaign, it was under the 
influence of the same fatality which swayed the popula- 
tion after the last catastrophe ; it obeyed the same senti- 
ment, that superior instinct of preservation, which in 
great crises dominates and directs assemblies in the same 
way that it does individuals and peoples. The Corps 
Legislatif, doubtless, would have preferred to resist this 
impulse and preserve its normal and legal position, and thus 
remain a subordinate power. It tried to do so. Thus, 
after the fall of the Ollivier ministry, it suffered, an: act of 
sovereignty on the part of the Government which formed 
a new ministry. And yet, at this very moment, the seat of 
power was transferred; the minister was.much. more .the. ser- 



194 Life of Thiers. \i^o. 

vitor of the Corps Legislatif than of the Emperor. It was 
the Corps Legislatif which took or suggested all the meas- 
ures demanded by the situation. It was the Corps Legis- 
latif which imposed the immediate arming of the country, a 
step that the Government declined to take on account of a 
selfish fear of the results, a desire to preserve the Dynasty. 
If the Corps Legislatif did not appoint the military com- 
manders, it designated them, and its designation was law. 
It even happened on one occasion, that a decree issued by 
the Government — that naming Thiers a member of the 
Committee of Defense — appeared an usurpation to the 
Corps Legislatif which had not countersigned it, and, on 
the motion of a deputy, the Government came near see- 
ing its decree destroyed and made over again by this body. 
It is not less significant and shows the profoundness of 
the revolution of September, that this assumption of the 
real sovereignty by the Corps Legislatif, redounded to 
the advantage of those deputies who owed their seats to 
the liberal element of the country, who were the furthest 
separated from the Empire, and that those who opposed 
this assumption-— the official candidates — were in the end 
the worst enemies of the Empire. The paralysis which 
had seized the Government, had also attacked its sup- 
porters in the Corps Legislatif. There was no life, move- 
ment, initiative, except on the benches of the Opposition. 
It was Thiers, Jules Favre, Gambetta, Jules Simon,* 

* Simon, (1814 ), professor, author, and republican statesman; Op- 
position deputy under the Empire ; member of the Government of National 
Defence in 1S70 ; minister under Thiers's presidency, 1871-73 ; Prime Min- 



jet. 73.] Revolution of September ^th. 195 

Ferry, * Picard and their friends, who ruled and directed. 
If they did not hold the helm, they commanded fright- 
ened and inert pilots who feared to direct the vessel. 
The republicans governed before the revolution. 

The last night of the Empire was, so to speak, a wake. 
The session of the Corps Legislatif from the 3d to the 4th 
of September, was simply a consecration of a fact already 
accomplished. The Empire had surrendered before the 
Emperor gave up his sword to the King of Prussia. The 
resolutions that killed it — the marked features of this 
famous session — were only different formulas of an im- 
posed situation. This fact strikingly demonstrates the 
weakness of this Government, a few weeks before appar- 
ently so strong, and shows what a slight hold it had on pub- 
lic opinion. Jules Favre's resolution dethroning Louis 
Napoleon and his dynasty, though postponed until the 
next day, gave rise to no objection ; the proposition of 
the Cabinet — presented by General Palkaof — vague, timid, 
and equivocal, concealed the same thought ; and Thiers's 
resolution which had the same tendency — since, though 
calling upon the country for an expression of its wish, it 
left the convocation of the new Assembly to an undeter- 

ister in 1877 ; member of the French Academy, and to-day, (1878) life- 
senator. 

* Ferry, (1832 ), advocate, journalist, and republican politician ; Op- 
position deputy in 1869 ; member of the Government of National Defence 
in 1870 ; and republican deputy since 1871. 

f Count de Palikao, (1796-1S78), after long service in the army, became 
a general in 1851 ; made senator and count by Napoleon III for military 
successes in China, in i860 ; and succeeded Ollivier as premier and Minister 
of War, in August, 1870. 



196 Life of Thiers. \i%io. 

mined future — was backed by forty-seven deputies, be- 
longing to all the factions of the Corps Legislatif and 
counting among its friends even Bonapartists. 

Finally, when Gambetta, rising after Thiers, demanded- 
in order to arrive at a more rapid conclusion — that all these 
propositions be considered "urgent," not a voice was heard 
to exclaim that the Corps Legislatif was usurping power 
and was making a revolution. The Revolution was so in- 
herent in the actual state of public affairs and had so taken 
possession of the public mind, that when Thiers's bill was 
carried before the different standing committees it was 
accepted unanimously.* 

When the people came upon the scene the next day, 
they only followed the example set by the deputies. If 
Paris was guilty of overturning the Empire, the Corps Leg- 
islatif was equally guilty, and, furthermore, Paris did not 
take the first step in this direction. The declarations of 
dethronement, though put off and modified, were no more 
normal than the bursting of the people into the hall and 
lobbies of the Palais-Bourbon,f or the setting up of a new 
government at the Hotel de Ville. \ The appearance of 

* Souvenirs of September 4th, by Jules Simon. 

f The palace of the Corps Legislatif across the river from the Place de la 
Concorde at Paris. 

\ When the news of the disaster of Sedan reached Paris, on September 4th, 
1870, the extreme republicans deserted the Corps Legislatif, which was dis- 
persed by the populace, and set up at the Hotel de Ville a provisional Govern- 
ment of National Defence, which conducted the affairs of France until Febru- 
ary 13th, 1871, when it transferred its power to the National Assembly, elected 
an February 8th, 1871. Among the members of this government were 
Gambetta, Jules Simon, Jules Favre, Garnier-Pages, Rochefort, Ferry, and 
Cremieux. 



Mt. 73.] Revolution of September ^th. 197 

legality was, at that moment, an act of prudence and 
policy, but it was nothing more than an appearance. 
Usurpation was abroad because peril was on every hand, 
because everybody felt that the Empire — which had just 
lost everything — was incapable of saving anything. In a 
crisis where existence itself is in jeopardy, every one has 
the right to seek safety where he hopes to find it. At 
such a time, the ideal line that separates right and legal- 
ity is lost sight of. The official candidates of the Empire 
had forgotten it ; how could it have held back an ardent, 
trembling, indignant people ? 

The revolution of September 4th, was, therefore, ne- 
cessary and is justified by the conduct even of those who 
have since denounced it. Without speaking of the force 
of public opinion that the Empire had raised up against 
itself for a long time back, of the feebleness with which 
it had been afflicted from its very origin, of the weight 
of its old faults and especially those of the moment which 
bore down upon it ; without considering the general con- 
viction that the Empire was too weak to repair the evil, 
those who made this revolution might say with much 
show of reason, that the only difference between them- 
selves and the deputies was, that they were forced to be- 
come revolutionists, that they acted in self-defence, be- 
cause the deputies — letting precious time slip by, when 
there was not a moment to lose — were indecisive and 
vacillating, at an hour when — as Thiers said at a later 
day — " the cry of necessity was entreating them to act."* 

* Thiers's testimony before the Committee of Inquiry. 



198. Life of Thiers. [ l87Q 

The Empire fell under the blows of this necessity, and 
it was evident that the Republic alone could replace it. 
There was the same unanimity of opinion on this point 
as on that of the destruction of the Empire. The pro- 
clamation of the Government of National Defense from 
the Hotel de Ville, was the natural consequence of all that 
had preceded it, of the compounding conduct of the Corps 
Legislatif, of the impatience of a nation at bay, Some 
persons may regret that it did not spring from a more 
legal source, and that Thiers's proposition — which left the 
form of government to the convocation of a Constituent 
Assembly — was not assented to ; but if this bill had been 
adopted, a provisional government would have been 
necessary until such an assembly could be convened, and 
this government — as much an usurper as that which sprang 
from the ruins of the Empire — would have been like it, 
a government of public safety and republican in form, for 
this very simple reason, that no monarchy was possible 
and no one of the claimants would have been so foolish as 
to put forward his title in the then state of politics. 

Thiers did not, however, wish to enter the new Govern- 
ment. He felt that it was necessary and consequently 
legitimate, but he did not believe that his place was in 
it. The course that public opinion imposed upon the 
Government of National Defense did not meet his appro- 
bation. He favored peace, but the nation wanted war. 
He thought the nation in the wrong. He believed that 
the best thing to do was to treat. Several of the more 



jet. 73.] Revolution of September A^h. 199 

influential members of the Government of the Hotel de 
Ville entertained the same opinion. They, therefore, 
offered Thiers the mission of laying before the courts 
of Europe, the real interests of Europe at that moment, 
and of instilling into victorious Prussia the spirit 
of moderation. This was the only way of arriving 
at a peace, for France, and especially Paris and the 
great cities, would, at this hour, listen to no other terms 
than those expressed by Jules Favre when he exclaimed : 
"Not an inch of our territory, not a stone of our fort-, 
resses !" 

Jules Favre has related the interview that he had with 
Thiers, when he offered him this important mission. It 
was on September 9th, 1870. Favre went to Thiers's 
house in the Place St. Georges, and " pressed him to ac- 
cept the mission. He was confined to his bed, suffering 
from a severe cold and fever. ' You perplex me infinite- 
ly,' said M. Thiers, ' in making so unexpected a proposi- 
tion. You know my sentiments ; they are not hostile to 
the Government of National Defense. I hope it may suc- 
ceed, but I would prefer not to be associated with it. 
You see, I am in no condition to act as its messenger. 
But this, however, is the least important obstacle. The 
principal trouble is the hard-heartedness of the European 
cabinets. It would be unpleasant for me to be treated 
by them with indifference, and, yet, I have the presenti- 
ment that such would be the result of the mission you 
offer me. Nevertheless, our disasters make me so un- 



200 Life of Thiers. [ I g 70 . 

happy, that it pains me that I am not seconding the men 
who are trying to repair them. Allow me to reflect on 
this proposition for a few hours. I will give you my an- 
swer to-morrow.' 

" The next day he came to see me. He was active and 
well; the thought of giving his country anew proof of his 
indefatigable devotion had cured him. In fact, this is one 
of the characteristics of his privileged nature, where are 
found inexhaustible physical and moral resources, and an 
elasticity which confounds those who are not acquainted 
with its wonderful richness. While listening to him ex- 
plaining to me the motives that had led him to accept the 
mission, I could not but admire the simplicity and the 
vigor with which — -in spite of so many excellent reasons 
for sparing himself the fatigues, the perils, and the morti- 
fications of so thankless an enterprise — a man of his age, 
who had so many times paid his debt to his country, readily 
gave this new proof of his patriotism, without apparently 
imagining that there was any merit in not refusing it. I had 
asked him to go to London ; he also offered to go to St. 
Petersburg and Vienna, where he hoped to have a favora- 
ble reception.* I thanked him with all my heart." 

Thiers, in accepting the mission that was offered him, 
undertook a struggle with the impossible. He knew this 
himself. He has expressed this feeling in a way that 
makes it easy to comprehend his meaning, f In London, 

* Thiers visited also Florence, then the capital of Italy, 
f Thiers before the Committee of Inquiry. 



jet. 73.] Revolution of September \th. 201 

where he was received with merited attentions, he 
found the Cabinet possessed of an irremovable in- 
ertia. The most he could hope for, was that England 
would put herself at the head of the neutral Powers, " to 
exert an influence on Prussia at the moment when peace 
negotiations should be begun." 

Bismarck had shut up all the channels by which diplo- 
macy might have penetrated into the Courts and Cabinets. 
Austria was as much restrained as England was inert. 
Russia was perhaps an accomplice. Thiers found her 
polite, but that was all. Italy sympathized with France ; 
but the folly of the Empire, as Prince Napoleon has 
shown,* had paralyzed her. No armed aid was to be ex- 
pected from Europe. There was little ground for hop- 
ing that even a moral influence would be exerted at the 
overtures of peace. Thiers, therefore, found himself 
necessarily forced to turn towards Bismarck. 

But this was going from one impossibility to another, 
falling from Scylla into Charybdis. Bismarck had his own 
perfected plan, and Paris another, just the contrary. 
Bismarck wished Alsace and Lorraine, and the govern- 
ment of the Hotel de Ville, following in the wake of Paris, 
could not yet bring itself to pass under the Caudine 
yoke. Between these diametrically opposite situations 
there was no compromise possible, and every attempt to 
find a middle term, to reconcile them, failed utterly. 

Thiers, from the very beginning of the war, saw clearly 

* Revue des Deux Alondes, for April 1st, 1878. 



202 Life of Thiers. [1870-71. 

what the result would be. He knew the insufficient prepa- 
rations on the French side, and the incapacity of the men 
who were to direct the French armies. This was the prin- 
cipal reason why he so earnestly opposed the war before it 
began. After the disasters which he had predicted — great- 
er, however, than he had foretold — a peace policy became 
all the stronger with him. To bring this about, he undertook 
that futile mission to the Courts of Europe, and defeated 
there, he still continued his opposition to the war, and, 
consequently, to the policy of the Government, which, at 
Tours and Bordeaux, favored the plan of Jules Favre, to 
fight to the last. But soon Paris capitulated and France 
imitated the capital. An armistice was concluded ; the 
electors were summoned to choose a new Assembly which 
should decide upon war or peace. Thiers, elected by 
twenty-six departments, was made Chief of the Executive 
Power, and was to act, " under the control and the au- 
thority of the National Assembly, and with the co-opera- 
tion of Ministers chosen and presided over by himself." * 
Thus, the misfortunes of his country opened to Thiers 
a new career, and were to impose upon him a task, which 
was heavier and more glorious perhaps than all those with 
which changing events had up to that time loaded his 
long and active life. 

* Decree of the National Assembly, February nth, 1871. 



CHAPTER VIII. 

THIERS'S PRESIDENCY. — 1871-1873. 

We have come to the last period of the history of 
Thiers, the most memorable and the most meritorious, 
which is the crowning of his long life, and which will 
remain marked in the annals of France, as the greatest 
effort yet accomplished to give it a government in con- 
formity with its genius. 

France, at the moment when Thiers took the reins of 
power, after the elections of February 8th, 1871, was in 
the most critical and grevious condition. The Germans 
in possession of its territory as far as the river Loire, its 
armies in part prisoners, its treasury empty, its credit 
gone, its administration disorganized ; the political parties 
alive and ready to come to blows ; an Assembly that was 
monarchical and clerical ; the great cities of the South, 
Lyons, Marseilles, Bordeaux and Toulouse, conspiring 
against the Assembly ; the Paris National Guard chafing 
under the humiliation of defeat, and controlled by a factious 
spirit ready to turn to advantage its irritated patriotism, 
— such was the picture. Furthermore, there was no gov- 
ernment, and, in the multiplicity of parties, their divisions 
and their subdivisions, with an Assembly considered as 



204 Life of Thiers. [1871. 

the expression of a transitory sentiment, of a panic, not 
the manifestation of the permanent wants and sober reflec- 
tion of the country, and where all was confusion and clash- 
ing, there was ground for fear that it was as equally im- 
possible to found a monarchy as a republic. There seem- 
ed no end to, nor issue from, the chaos. 

Thiers felt deeply this lamentable situation. As a citi- 
zen he deplored it, and as a statesman he was profoundly 
troubled by it. His attention was, above all, engrossed 
by the opinions and parties of the Assembly. Though 
depressed by the misfortunes arising from the war, and 
recognizing the necessity of repairing them so soon as 
possible, he was too well acquainted with the resources 
of the country, to be alarmed at the difficulties that the 
work of reparation would impose upon him. But how 
was a government to be formed from the intellectual and 
moral anarchy which surrounded him, one single will to 
rule so many divergent minds, a fixed policy to be shaped 
out of so many parties, which wished, the one a mon- 
archy, the others a republic, and which, whether monar- 
chists or republicans, were divided even among them- 
selves ? 

There was the difficulty, there was the rub, which — 
though lost sight of for the moment in the all-absorbing 
question that the new Assembly was elected to decide, 
namely, war or peace with the victorious Prussians — was 
sure to come forward again as the most vital and 
dangerous subject for consideration. It presented em- 



^ T . 74 .j Thiers s Presidency. 2o5 

barrassments on every side: to attempt to resolve it 
immediately, was to receive a certain check ; to leave it 
undecided, was to keep alive the hopes of the ambitious, 
and to inflict on the country all the evils of an unsettled 
government. If a middle course were adopted, if the powers 
of the Assembly were limited to the pressing question of 
peace, and that of the form of government were given over 
to a new Assembly — a Constituent — elected by the people, 
the difficulty was not disposed of, for there was no 
ground for believing that the Assembly would consent 
to abdicate so promptly, or that the new elections 
would materially change the state of affairs. Further- 
more, if the Assembly would dissolve, it would only be 
increasing the perplexity of the work of reparation by a 
still more delicate and more laborious task, that of im- 
posing upon a nation already fatigued, and in need of 
perfect rest, the toil and excitement of a passionate and 
hotly-contested election. 

Thiers — after examining the question in all its aspects 
— rejected the idea of an immediate solution of the diffi- 
culty, and adopted the plan known under the name of 
the Truce of the Parties, or the Pact of Bordeaux, which 
imposed upon him — to employ his own words, pro- 
nounced a few hours before he fell from office — -" an 
immediate task, that of making peace, re-organizing the 
country, and removing the enemy from the soil of 
France ; and a subsequent task, one of foresight, that of di- 
recting the Assembly towards a durable form of govern- 



206 Life of Thiers. [ I g 74> 

ment." * But — and this point must be insisted upon — 
though he postponed the question of a permanent govern- 
ment, he was not undecided in regard to its solution. He 
said one day,f that skepticism did not enter into his nature, 
his mind, or his character, and he spoke the truth. It is 
equally true that he understood at the same time both 
parts of his task. He had entered office with a conviction 
and a resolution : with the conviction that a monarchy 
was impossible, and with the resolution to work for the 
foundation of the Republic. 

M. Cuvillier-Fleury — -a former partisan of constitutional 
monarchy, and like Thiers, a convert to the Republic — 
seems to think that it is to the circumstances in which 
Thiers was invested with the executive power, that is 
due his conversion to the Republic. \ M. Cuvillier- 
Fleury is mistaken. This conversion was of earlier date. 
His long-standing preferences for constitutional mon- 
archy had given way before the spectacle of our revolu- 
tions, as M. Grevy § remarked at his tomb. He said so 
himself more than once, long before he had any thought 
of being called upon to found the Republic, fl and he did 
not hesitate to show that he meant what he said when 



* Speech of May 24th, 1873. f Speech of May 24th, 1873. 

% M. Cuvillier-Fleury in the yournal des D/bats, September 29th, 1877. 

§ Jules Grevy, (1813 ), advocate and republican statesman ; partici- 
pated actively in the three days' fight of the July Revolution ; deputy under 
the February Republic and the Empire ; and deputy and President of the 
Chamber of Deputies under the present Republic. 

I This important point would be vouched for by M. Barthelemy-St.- 
Hilaire, his intimate friend ; M. Laboulaye. M. Madier de Montjau, the 
deputy, and even the Duke de Broglie, his implacable enemy. 



jet. 74.] Thiers s Presidency. 207 

at the close of his life, the course of events gave him 
the opportunity. 

Thiers could not, in the month of February, 187 1, say all 
he thought ; for, by so doing, he would have contradicted 
his official policy. His language, nevertheless, in spite 
of some necessary reserves, but more especially his acts, 
was very significant, as can be easily proven by even a 
cursory glance at the varied events of the day. As late as 
November, 1872, for example, Thiers said in the Assembly: 
" If I am applauded, it is not because I am unfaithful to the 
beliefs of my life, not because I hold the opinions of the 
honorable deputies who sit on these benches (pointing 
to the Left), not that I hold the opinions of the most 
radical or the most conservative among them. No ! 
They know that on most social, political and economic 
questions, I do not hold their opinions. They know it. 
I have always told them so. No, neither concerning 
taxation, nor the army, nor the social organization, nor 
the organization of the Republic, do I think with them." * 

This is but an apparent contradiction. The peculiar 
situation in which Thiers was placed, the condition of 
the country, the mind of the people, the voice of Europe, 
all these were conflicting elements that a statesman of 
Thiers's practical nature had to consider and carefully 
observe. This point will be more fully developed in the 
course of this chapter, and in the one which follows, 
wherein we shall show, we think, that, as a whole, the 

* Journal Officiel, November, 1872, page 7409. 



208 Life of Thiers. [1871. 

conduct of Thiers, throughout his presidency, was favora- 
ble to the Republic. 

Named by the National Assembly Chief Executive, on 
February 17th, 1871, he declared, on making known the 
names of his ministers, that he had chosen them for no 
other reason, than because of the esteem universally 
accorded by the public to their character and their ability ; 
that he had selected them "not from one of the parties 
that divided the Assembly, but from all, as the country 
had done in electing its deputies, in presenting often in 
the same deputation very different names, men apparently 
of diametrically opposite opinions, united only by patriot- 
ism, intelligence and good intentions."* This was true, 
for out of the seven ministers whom he had chosen, three 
were republicans of an early date, Jules Favre, Jules 
Simon and Picard, while Dufaure, Lambrecht,f Admiral 
Pothuau, \ General Le F16§ and even Baron de Larcy, || 
a legitimist, were convinced of the necessity of the 
Republic. 

No wonder a Republican newspaper, the Avenir Na- 

* Speech at Arcachon in 1875. 

f Lambrecht, (1819—1871), engineer by profession ; Opposition deputy in 
1863 ; deputy in 1871 and Minister of Commerce under Thiers. 

\ Pothuau, (1815 ), in active naval service for many years ; liberal 

deputy in 1871 ; Minister of the Marine under Thiers ; and now (1878) life- 
senator and Minister of the Marine and Colonies. 

§ Le Flo, (1804 ), distinguished himself in Africa during the July 

Monarchy ; deputy under the February Republic ; exiled by Napoleon ; 
deputy after the September Revolution ; Minister of War under Thiers ; 
and now (187S) ambassador of France at St. Petersburg. 

||Baron de Larcy, (1805 ), advocate, statesman and publicist ; deputy 

under the July Monarchy and the republic of 1848 ; retired to private life 
after the coup d'etat; deputy in 1871 and Minister of Public Works under 
Thiers. 



Mr. 74] Thiers s Presidency. 209 

tional, wrote, x after his nomination as Chief Executive, 
recalling the fact that he had been suggested to the 
Assembly by Dufaure and Grevy : "In a new situation 
M. Thiers wishes to be a new marf, and the little we 
know of what has been going on at Bordeaux since 
February 13th, seems to indicate that M. Thiers is in 
reality turning his face not towards the past but towards 
the future." 

All the republicans were not so penetrating. Thiers 
continued to be distrusted not only by the survivors of 
1848, those whom he had combated during the founda- 
tion period of the July Government, but also by the new 
generation, and not always by the least intelligent of 
those who represented it. His past alienated the first, 
his conduct during the recent war gave the second ground 
for suspicion. His impartial and neutral policy was 
looked upon by many as a sort of seesaw which hid his 
personal aims, and which, according to circumstances, 
could tip towards monarchy or republicanism. And yet 
his real opinion escaped him even in the tribune. On 
March 10th, 1871, repeating his declarations of neutrality, 
recalling the necessity of " postponing numerous differ- 
ences and questions relating to the constitution," in order 
that he might give his undivided attention to the recon- 
struction of the country, he was asked in what form this 
reconstruction would come about. He replied: "In the 
form of the Republic and in its favor." 

This opinion was brought out more clearly by the 



210 Life of Thiers. [r.871. 

course events took. It is seen in Thiers's speech, 
delivered on March 27th, 1871, in the midst of the insur- 
rection of the Commune. He could not have gone 
further without breaking in pieces the Pact of Bordeaux, 
which would have produced an insurrection within an insur- 
rection. The same thing is true of his speech delivered 
a little later, on June 14th, 1871, after the defeat of the 
Commune, concerning the amnesty of the Orleans 
princes,* and their admission into the Assembly to which 
they had been elected. This proposition had stirred up 
the whole country. The Government was troubled by 
it, and would have liked to expel the princes frojn the 
Assembly. Thiers, though at first opposed to their 
admission, finally favored it, on condition that the terms 
of the Pact of Bordeaux were rigorously observed. 
He explained once more what this Pact was, and did 
not hesitate to unequivocally declare that he was not 
working for the Monarchy ; " that he would not govern 
ill to please it, though his government should aid the 
cause of the Republic." " You have accepted this Pact," 
he went on to say ; " it was a sensible Pact, and so far 
we have succeeded with it, because we have been faithful 
to it. I trust that we will still remain faithful to it. 
But what did I join to this statement ? I added 
these words, which I remember displeased some of 
you when I pronounced them : ' Under this Government 

* The Prince de Joiuville and the Duke d'Aumale, sons of Louis- 
Philippe. 



jet. 74.1 Thiers s Presidency, 211 

that belongs to everybody, which for the first time for 
many years is not the Government of a party, but that 
of all parties, under this Government, called the Re- 
public, if we do well, it is the Republic that will profit 
by it.' Yes, gentlemen, although I have said that the 
future form of government is postponed at the risk of 
helping the Republic, I shall go on governing as best I 
know how. Nothing is more respectable than to believe 
in monarchy, and to yearn for it. But it is also respecta- 
ble to believe in the Republic, and to long for it. Gentle- 
men, I entered into an engagement with honest inten- 
tions, and this engagement I shall never break. It is 
the Republic that has been placed in my hands, that I 
accept in trust. I shall not betray the Republic." 

This language does not accord with that which Mr. 
Bigelow uses in his opinion of Thiers, when he says that 
he was working for the Orleans princes at Bordeaux.* 

It is not necessary to push the point further. Thiers 
was thoroughly in favor of the Republic. His only care 
was to prepare its foundation, a hard task, the more 
difficult of the two that he had undertaken, as will soon 
be seen ; a task that will always receive the particular 
attention of the historian of this epoch. For there is no 
spectacle more interesting to men, than that of a superior 
mind struggling to establish a government, especially 
when the struggle is long, obstinate, full of vicissitudes, 
and crowned, after the greatest difficulties, with success. 

* See Author's Preface, p. ix. 



212 Life of Thiers. [ r g 7I . 

Since Thiers saw the necessity of the Republic and 
honestly wished for its establishment, certain republican 
statesmen, at the moment of the elections of February 
8th, 1871, thought that it would be well to profit by the 
occasion and submit the form of government to the votes 
of the people. M. Emile de Girardin,* on February 7th, 
the very night before the elections, wrote to Thiers sug- 
gesting that he restore the republican constitution of 
November 4th, 1848, and call upon the electors, accord- 
ing to the requirements of that constitution, to choose a 
president, after having previously submitted to their 
votes the question of peace or war. 

" Reflect on this, my dear and illustrious colleague," 
wrote M. de Girardin, " as carefully as I have, in my closet, 
and you will be, I am certain, of my opinion. And if you 
accept it, you will reap this double advantage : You will 
escape the heavy responsibility of making peace on ex- 
orbitant terms ; and you will secure for your name in 
history, a glory equal to that which has made immortal 
the names of Washington and Jefferson." 

After the elections, M. de Girardin returned to the 
charge. Thiers repeatedly repelled his propositions, 
though he agreed with his former colleague on the real 
question. He was not opposed to the constitution of 
1848 in itself. It was simply a matter of dignity with 
him, of form, of conduct. It was the business of the re- 

* Emile de Girardin, (1806 ), the distinguished journalist and publi- 
cist, and husband of Delphine Gay, the poetess, novelist and dramatist. 



y£ T . 74 .] Thiers s Presidency. 213 

publican party, and not his, to take the initiative in the 
question. 

Thiers acted wisely. France was not in the same situ- 
ation as the United States in the time of Washington 
and Jefferson. Other means were to be employed to 
reach the same end. Monarchy was no more possible at 
this moment in France, than it was in America in the 
time of these great men ; but a majority of the people — 
and among them, many worthy men — had not yet shown 
themselves favorable to the republican idea, and such a 
demonstration was necessary, in order not to jeopardize 
the plan of bestowing upon France an enduring govern- 
ment. 

Thiers's whole effort was to awaken republican feeling. 
At first he wished to thoroughly convince public opinion, 
that no other government than the Republic was any longer 
possible in France ; and to work upon the anti-republican 
Assembly for the same purpose, by pointing out to it the 
variance between its own views and those of the country, 
by bringing to bear upon it the whole weight of public 
opinion, and by demonstrating to the sensible and honest 
conservatives, that the Republic was not only a necessary 
government, but that it was also a good government, 
capable of performing great and even most difficult acts. 
For, in his mind — and he has many times stated this 
opinion in his writings — it is not enough to improvise a 
government — even though it be given a most legitimate 
character — in order to secure its permanence. Whether 



214 Life of Thiers. [1871. 

it spring from a revolution or from a coup d'dtat, whether 
it afterwards pursue a worthy course with greater or less 
honestly and earnestness, every government must always 
submit to the trial of experience, which will be more or less 
favorable to it, according to its wisdom or folly, its useful- 
ness or inefficiency. The Republic — supposing the popular 
vote, directly or indirectly consulted, had intrusted its 
fortune to the hands of Thiers — could not have escaped 
the necessity of this trial, which would have been the 
more decisive as the difficulty of governing would have 
been greater, since the Assembly was not republican. 
But why not postpone this inevitable trial? This was 
Thiers's original idea. When the Republic should have 
accomplished useful and difficult tasks, impartial men, that 
is to say, the mass of the nation, would be quick to do it 
justice. Its legal conservation would necessarily follow 
in one way or another ; and all the arguments against re- 
publicanism, drawn from the past and employed by its ene- 
mies, would vanish like thin smoke. As there is no better 
way to prove motion than to move, so there is no better 
way to show the excellence of a government than to 
govern well. 

Thiers hoped that this indispensable condition of suc- 
cess would not fail him. He had great confidence in 
himself ; and he was sufficiently well acquainted with the 
resources of France, to be sure that they would be equal 
to the magnitude of the first part of the task, and with 
its good sense, to know that its support would never be 



Mt. 74.] Thiers 's Presidency. 2 1 5 

withdrawn from those who governed according to the in- 
stincts and interests of the country. He hoped also that, 
without missing his object, and, at the same time, without 
concealing it, he might quietly bring the Assembly around 
to his own way of thinking. He thought that necessity 
would prove stronger than its bad temper, that it would 
follow him though provoked, and would continue to sub- 
mit to him so long as the necessity lasted, and that 
when this necessity no longer existed, the services ren- 
dered by the Republic would be sufficient to secure the 
respect of France. 

The insurrection which broke out on March 18th, 
1871, — the Paris Commune — which might have com- 
promised everything, and which did, in effect, by 
accumulating new difficulties, greatly complicate Thiers's 
undertaking — was the first term in the demonstra- 
tion. It had this good effect at least, that it proved 
that the Republic, even in its provisional and tentative 
form, was able to endure a most trying and exhaustive 
strain. For this reason, as well as for the important 
place that it holds in the history of Thiers's Government 
and in the public mind, and on account of its tragic 
nature we must devote a few pages, not to a complete 
consideration of all its phases, but to point out the 
causes and the character of the struggle, and the policy 
of the Versailles Government in regard to it. 

After the elections of February 8th, 1871, which named 
the Assembly that brought about peace, the National 



216 Life of Thiers. [1871. 

Guard of Paris was divided between two feelings : it 
would not pardon the Government of National Defense 
the capitulation made necessary by what it considered 
a weak resistance ; and it feared that the Assembly 
wished to destroy the Republic. The entrance of the 
Prussians within the walls of Paris, and the first acts of 
the Assembly, such as the numerous incidents attending 
the establishment of the powers of the various branches 
of the Government ; especially the scandalous discussion 
concerning the election of Garibaldi, whom a deputy 
dared to call a " supernumerary of a melodrama ; " * the 
resignation of Victor Hugo, made in a burst of proud 
and patriotic indignation ; + the removal of the seat of 
government from Paris to Versailles, thus offending the 
municipal government of the capital, left to the power 
of a Bonapartist general, Vinoy4 suspected of meditating 
a coup d'etat; the measures taken by this general, which 
gave ground for these suspicions ; the fact that the 
capital was under martial law ; the abrupt suspension 
of the liberty of the press and the right of holding 
public meetings ; an unfortunate law concerning credit, 
which ruined business and estranged the bourgeoisie ; the 
prospect of a long stoppage of work for the workmen, 
succeeding the cruel sufferings of the siege ; the sudden 
discontinuance of the pay of the National Guard — all 

* Garibaldi was elected deputy in 1871 as an acknowledgment of his ser- 
vices on the French side in the war of 1870-71, but he did not take his seat. 

f Victor Hugo resigned because the Chamber had refused to listen to him, 
as he said. 

\ General Vinoy is now (1878) Grand Chancellor of the Legion of Honor. 



^Ex. 74.] Thiers s Presidency. 217 

these various and important acts had increased daily in 
every class the feeling of discontent. At the moment 
when the Assembly left Bordeaux for Versailles, where 
it was to convene on March 20th, 1871, the insurrection 
appeared certain to many minds. M. Louis Blanc, in a 
remarkably eloquent speech, had predicted it at Bor- 
deaux. All the materials had been brought together, 
and the slightest incident might produce the explosion. 
What has been called the cannon question was the first 
spark. 

The day before the Prussians entered Paris, the National 
Guard seized a certain number of cannon, made during 
the siege by private industry, with funds derived from 
private subscriptions. These pieces had been carried 
into different quarters of the city, and the National 
Guard was ordered to protect them. The Government 
demanded them in vain. Influential members of the re- 
publican party, among others M. Cl£menceau,* interfered 
in order to bring about a pacific solution of the difficulty. 
They even hoped at one time to succeed in this effort, for 
the Government had solemly promised them to make 
concessions. But, on a sudden, in the morning of March 
1 8th, 1 87 1, an attempt was made to sieze the cannon by 
main force. The attack, which was poorly carried out, 
failed at all points. The troops, at the first contact with 
the people, surrounded by women and children, raised 

* Cle'menceau, (1841 ), physician by profession ; and radical deputy 

since 1871. 



218 Life of Thiers. ^871. 

the butts of their muskets in the air. Blood was shed in 
the Montmartre quarter of Paris : Generals Lecomte 
and Clement Thomas, seized by an infuriated band, were 
killed on the spot. 

It appears to be admitted that the check is attributable 
to the measures taken. It might have been repaired the 
very same day, if the military authorities had acted with 
some vigor. Unfortunately, after as before the defiance 
of the troops, slackness, sluggishness and indecision 
marked the conduct of the affair. The conquerors, during 
the first two days, appeared very much embarrassed by 
their victory. The largest number of the battalions of 
the National Guard did not wish to go as far as a revolu- 
tion. It is not certain that the Central Committee * it- 
self, to which has been attributed the initiation of the 
movement, had a fixed plan. A bold attempt to unite 
the battalions of the aristocratic quarters, might have dis- 
concerted the plan, held its partisans in check, and at 
least have given public opinion time to make itself felt. 

This was never thought of or was not desired. The 
conduct of the responsible authorities seems to point to- 
wards a premeditated design, in the interest of a party, to 
leave the way open to an insurrection. The measures 
taken the next day presented the same character as those 
of the previous day. There was no more good sense 
shown in the retreat than in the attack. Although Thiers 

* The Central Committee was composed of certain unknown names said 
to be affiliated with the International Association. 



^E T . 74 .] Thiers s Presidency. 219 

had forseen the necessity of leaving Paris, nothing was 
done to meet the emergency. The departure of the 
Government resembled a rout. General Vinoy left behind 
him troops, as well as the public coffers. 

The insurrection, therefore, does not appear to have been 
one of those inevitable events, which seem to be fated in 
the course of history. M. Vautrain, formerly a deputy and 
mayor of Paris, said one day in the Chamber, that if the 
Assembly had been at Paris, the insurrection would not 
have taken place. " From the 15th of March," he said, 
" the outbreak was obvious. More than one man foretold 
the movement and felt it. But. the Minister of the In- 
terior * had a terrible responsibility : he might have suf- 
fered a check, he might have succeeded if the prpper 
vigor had been employed. — But he could not act, because 
you were not there." 

There was some hope, however, even after the triumph 
of the insurrection. The mayors of the different quarters 
of Paris and the deputies of the capital, endeavored 
to effect an understanding. A conciliatory resolution 
offered by M. Arnaud de l'Ariegef in the name of his 
colleagues, would have greatly embarrassed the Central 
Committee, if it had been adopted by the Assembly; for 
it would have divided the National Guard, and separated 
the moderate from those who wished to carry things to 

* Ernest Picard. 

\ Arnaud de l'Arie'ge, (18J9-1878), advocate, publicist and republican 
politician ; deputy under the republic of 1848 ; deputy in 1871 ; and, at the 
time of his death, senator. 



220 Life of Thiers. \\%ti. 

extremes. But it did not enter into the policy of the 
Majority to accept an accommodation. It hoped that, as 
in 1848, after the excesses of the month of June,* terri- 
fied society would long for a protector, and monarchy 
would be considered the only issue from the danger. It 
conceived, at this early day, the idea of putting the 
Prince de Joinville — son of Louis-Philippe — in Thiers's 
place. In one of the sessions of the Assembly at this 
time, the suggestion was actually introduced in the course 
of debate, but the Government, rightly thinking that the 
remedy would only aggravate the evil, secured an adjourn- 
ment, and all idea of conciliation was thenceforth aban- 
doned. M. Jules Simon has well said in his recent work 
on Thiers's Government, that " there were two militant 
governments standing face to face," two blind powers, the 
Central Committee and the legislative majority. Thiers, 
placed between the two, could only bow before that 
which had legality on its side. 

The mayors and deputies of Paris, in their ardor 
for pacification, hoping against all hope, made another 
attempt to bring about an accommodation. Thinking 
that an authority emanating from the suffrage of Paris, 
would be more acceptable to the Assembly than the 
revolutionary Central Committee, they took measures 
to bring about the appointment of a representative body 
by a municipal election. 

The Commune sprang from these elections. Though 

* See page 140. 



^E T . 74 .] Thiers s Presidency. 221 

the new power had a more clearly defined plan than the 
Central Committee, though it was rather political than 
social, it was as bitter in its feelings towards the Ver- 
sailles Government as its predecessor, and, though it was 
more stronglyrepublican, still, as before, the same interval 
separated the two camps, which now could not approach 
each other except in battle array. 

Two unfortunate circumstances, two accidents, as 
always happens in crises too prolonged, precipitated the 
struggle. An army surgeon was killed by the National 
Guard, and, almost at the same time, three members of 
the National Guard, surprised at Chatou, a little town a 
few miles west of Paris, were shot on the spot. From 
this moment all the passions of civil war were let loose. 
It was no longer adversaries that one had before him : the 
National Guard were now only " the villains of the 
Commune," and the regular soldiers only " the Versailles 
assassins." 

There is sometimes in human events a fatal succession 
of calamities. From the infatuation of the crowd for 
the name of a warrior, sprang the second Empire ; from 
the senseless ambition of Napoleon III came the Prus- 
sian invasion ; from the invasion, the insurrection ; 
from the insurrection, civil war ; and, as the last resulted 
from tremendous wrongs, it was naturally guilty of awful 
excesses. 

The entry of the troops into Paris at the end of the 
month of May, 1871, which marked the fall of the Com- 



222 Life of Thiers. [1871. 

mune, is one of the most tragic episodes of history. 
An ambassador, a man of wit, who was asked what he 
did during the Commune, replied that he spent his time 
going from Bicetre to Charenton and from Charenton to 
Bicetre,* that is to say, from Paris to Versailles, and 
vice versd, meaning by this witticism, that the same folly 
ruled in both camps. The contest was in fact a long 
series of insane acts, whose final paroxysm lasted a whole 
week. The summary execution of the Commune prisoners 
commenced from the moment of the entry of the troops at 
Auteuil, the most westerly suburb of Paris. The order had 
been given — it is Marshal MacMahon who says so in his 
testimony before the Committee of Inquiry — to shoot down 
every member of the National Guard taken with arms in 
his hands. Paris replied to the Versailles executions by 
conflagrations f and the murder of the hostages. It has 
been estimated that there were twenty thousand sum- 
mary executions and two hundred assassinations in the 
prisons. Bismarck was not mistaken when he said to M. 
Jules Favre : " You will see again the horrors of the 
siege of Jerusalem." 

What part of the responsibility of these tragic events 
belonged to Thiers? When the insurrection is con- 
sidered in its first causes and the civil war in its prin- 
cipal acts, we remark first the vote of the Assembly 

* Towns in the environs of Paris, famous for their insane asylums. 

f We ought to state that the idea of incendiarism was thought of a long 
time before this. We heard it very often developed, in the Club of the 
Medical School, by Armand Levy, an old Bonapartist. 



jet. 74.] Thiers s Presidency. 223 

which decapitated Paris, the conduct of the military 
authorities, both before and after the episode of the can- 
non, the attempts at pacification made on the part of the 
mayors and the deputies of Paris, and, lastly, the sum- 
mary executions. Now, the first of these acts was done 
against the wishes of Thiers, and by the will of the royal- 
ist majority in the Assembly. It was also the Assembly 
which checked the negotiations that looked towards an 
accommodation. It was the military authorities alone 
who ordered the executions. Thiers is responsible only 
for having chosen for the post of Governor of Paris, a 
person who did not know how to take such provident 
and vigorous measures, as would prevent or disarm the 
insurrection ; and, for having placed confidence in a gen- 
eral,* who did not possess enough authority to impose 
upon his troops respect for victory and for the laws of 
humanity observed by civilized nations. 

Mr. Bigelow, as we have seen,f presents Thiers to us, 
as suspected of having systematically wished to place the 
Government in an attitude of marked hostility towards 
the governed. The real truth is precisely the contrary. 
The whole history of Thiers's political life proves that 
his constant care was to adapt his own views to those of 
the nation, and to seek the aid of public opinion when- 
ever he was forced to resist the ruling powers. And it is 
a curious fact, that never was this more clearly seen, than 
in this very crisis of the Commune, which suggested the 

* Marshal MacMahon. f See Author's Preface, p. ix. 



224 Life of Thiers. [1S71. 

accusation, although the perils and the passions of the 
hour were of the very nature to invite the worst tempta- 
tions. Two things were evident : In the first place, the 
character of the insurrection, which, if we except the 
eccentric frenzy of the leaders, was purely republican, 
and which would never have occurred if it had not been 
for the fear of seeing a monarchy issue from the palace of 
Versailles ; and, secondly, the sentiment of the country 
outside of Paris, particularly the great cities, which, with- 
out approving of the insurrection, coincided with it in the 
fear of a monarchical restoration. Thiers, who was not 
ignorant of this, was so little tempted to place his Govern- 
ment in an attitude of hostility toward the governed, 
that his republican declarations were never more explicit, 
in spite of the neutrality imposed by the Pact of Bordeaux. 
The day after the affair of the cannon, the Minister of 
the Interior, M. Picard, had posted throughout Paris a 
proclamation in which he said that " the Government of 
the Republic did not have and could not have any other 
aim than the welfare of the Republic." Thiers himself, 
in spite of the imperative necessity that he was under of 
propitiating the Majority, which he needed in order to be 
able to govern, repelled with the greatest vehemence the 
accusation of hostility towards the Republic. On March 
27th, 1 87 1, he said in the Assembly: "There are enemies 
of good order who say that we wish to overturn the Re- 
public. I deny this flatly. I found the Republic estab- 
lished when you confided to me the executive power, and 



jet. 74.] Thiers s Presidency. 225 

I shall no more betray it than I have betrayed any other 
government. They lie, they lie a hundred times, who 
say the contrary." 

Though Thiers treated the insurgents as enemies, which 
was his right as the head of the Government, he sided 
with them in so far as he could, without wanting in his 
duty, by his fidelity to the Republic, a fidelity that he 
could not render more significant without absolutely 
breaking the party truce, and adding, as we have said, 
another insurrection to the insurrection. 

The Majority was not ashamed of its attitude, and 
marked its resentment by incessant attacks, at the risk 
of augmenting the difficulties of the situation and annoying 
the Government. One day, a legitimist deputy proposed 
to return to legitimacy, " to crown our provisional edifice," 
as he said. On another occasion, it was the Government 
of September 4th, that was brought into the debate, in 
order to stir up the republicans against Thiers. Finally, 
on May nth, near the end of the struggle, a direct attack 
was made. M. Mortimer Ternaux,* a fiery reactionary, 
laid before the Assembly a document, purporting to give 
a report of a conversation of Thiers with the members of 
the municipality of Bordeaux on the subject of the Com- 
mune, and he called upon Thiers to defend himself against 
the indulgent sentiments attributed to him in this docu- 
ment. Thiers could no longer contain himself, and he 

*Ternaux, (1808 ,) author, and Opposition deputy under the July- 
Monarchy and February Republic ; retired to, prwale_ life, after the coilp 
d'etat and deputy in 1871. 



226 Life of Thiers. r^i. 

qualified in merited terms the contemptible policy, based 
on passion, prejudice and folly, which had no regard for 
the public welfare. 

Thiers rarely employed to such advantage, as on this 
occasion, that eloquent indignation which characterized 
his temperament. Scarcely had the reactionary orator 
finished his remarks, when Thiers rushed to the tribune. 
He was pale and indigant. Emotion choked his voice. 
" I refuse," he cried, " to give the explanations asked of 
me." And then, instead of being the accused, he turned 
judge, and reproached the Assembly for its spirit of dis- 
trust, for its annoyances and ingratitude. " I cannot 
govern any longer," he continued ; "tell me if you are 
weary of me. We must understand each other clearly 
on this point. There must be nothing equivocal here. 
There are those among us who are imprudent, who are in 
too much of a hurry. Wait a week longer and at the end 
of that week we will have Paris. Then all danger will be 
past. Whether the task be difficult, will depend upon 
your courage and capacity." 

The majority yielded. Thiers asked for a vote of con- 
fidence and obtained it. The majority, by its question, 
showed what Thiers's political position was, and what his 
dignity was, by its vote. It had furthermore, been very 
unfortunate in its choice of the time to accuse Thiers of 
quasi-complicity with the insurrection, for at this same 
moment the Commune had decreed the destruction of 
his Hotel of the Place Saint-Georges, and at the same 



jet. 74.] Thiers s Presidency. 227 

hour that it disregarded his services, he signed the treaty 
of peace with Germany. 

The defeat of the Commune, the attitude of the ma- 
jority, which was feeble and timid throughout the course 
of the whole struggle, and the firm and vigorous conduct 
of Thiers, had strengthened his authority in the country, 
and so advanced the interests of the Republic. But he 
was aware that this very thing only increased the hostility 
of the majority towards him, and he thought it wise to 
take precautions against it. 

There was a danger, however, that political prudence 
was called upon to guard against. Thiers's confidence 
did not arise from the illusions of optimism. It did not 
shut out from his calculations opposing chances. But 
this belief in the necessity of accepting the Republic, 
on which he counted, might fail and be destroyed by 
the violent passions which pervaded the Assembly. 
The Assembly was sovereign and held to this power the 
more firmly as it was called in question. The chief that 
it had chosen in spite of itself — Thiers was fully conscious 
of this — might be wrecked by a sudden tempest before 
his work was finished, before he had presented the country 
— as a sign of the happy advent of republicanism — the 
retirement of the German soldiery from the soil of France, 
one of the main objects of his solicitude, which, he be- 
lieved, would be the crowning of the republican move- 
ment. Thiers was in fact at the mercy of a careless vote, 
of a dissent that might not even be of a political nature. 



228 Life of Thiers. [1S71. 

He might fall from some parliamentary mistake. People 
feared this. Under such conditions, how was he to carry 
out his plans of satisfying the universal longing for peace, 
of re-establishing credit, of re-assuring public opinion and 
Europe? How was he to govern with this "temporary 
power, revocable by a vote at any moment," as Thiers de- 
fined his authority ? It was not only " striking a bargain 
with the fickle public," as Thiers wrote M. de Girardin, 
but it was running the chance of being cheated, attempt- 
ing to walk a rope in fetters, of performing an act of 
fruitless and puerile devotion. Thiers saw his dangerous 
situation from the first day. Events that followed only 
increased his desire to protect himself from the agita- 
tions and passions of the Majority, until his work was ac- 
complished. 

Political passions are like other passions : they consider 
that alone good which serves them. Thiers had shown 
that he was equal to the emergency by the masterly per- 
formance of the first part of his task, that of healing the 
wounds made by the war ; and he thus demonstrated the 
fact that the Republic, even under a provisional form, was 
capable of doing good work when it was loyally support- 
ed. He had brought order out of a most formidable in- 
surrection — the Commune ; he had re-established credit, 
since the loan of five hundred millions of dollars for the 
payment of the first two installments of the Prussian in- 
demnity had produced not this sum, but a sum almost 
double that asked for; he had re-assured the public 



y£ T . 74 .] Thiers s Presidency. 229 

mind and won its sympathies, for the supplementary 
elections of July, 1871,* which had gone strongly 
republican, were more or less approbative of his policy 
and condemnatory of that of the monarchists. But 
all these services, though great, for this very reason, rend- 
ered the situation of him who had done them, all the 
more dangerous. Thiers saw this. The Majority showed 
its feelings by repeated unfriendly acts. For example, 
the repealing of the laws concerning exile, which opened 
the gates of France to the Orleans princes ; the law which 
conferred on a committee of the Assembly and not on 
the Executive, the pardoning power ; and still other sim- 
ilar laws and resolutions forming a list too long to enum- 
erate. It was prudent to find a check for this unre- 
strained resentment, to strengthen the Government by 
having its powers more clearly defined than had been 
done at Bordeaux, and assuring it a personal existence, 
independent of the often thoughtless wishes of the As- 
sembly. This it was that produced the Rivetf resolution 
which gave Thiers the right to exercise the executive 
power as long as the Assembly lasted. 

Sensible men — even those who were the least in favor 
of the Republic — accepted this proposition. " M. Thiers 

* At these elections.which occurred on July 2d and gth, 1871, 122 deputies 
were elected, of whom forty- six were radicals, and only thirteen belonged to 
the monarchical parties. Gambetta was chosen by three different districts. 
Laboulaye was also returned at this time. 

f Rivet, (1800 ), an Opposition Deputy under the July Monarchy ; 

voted with the Right during the February Republic ; opposed the coup 
a' /tat ; and deputy in 1871. 



230 Life of Thiers. [1S71. 

and the Assembly," said M. de Mazade,* in August, 1871, 
" are the two real forces of the situation in which France 
is placed ; and a common wisdom, the only law, the only 
rule, that binds these two forces, characterizes the present 
regime. It has been proposed more than once already to 
regulate and render more precise these relations, by as- 
suring them at least a fixed duration, and by removing 
them from the danger of daily changes. * * * 
Nothing, assuredly, is more natural than to wish to give 
certain stability to the necessary conditions of govern- 
ment, nothing is more statesman-like than to try to keep 
in power, wisdom and ability, when they are fortunately 
found united in a man who is an honor to his country." 

M. de Mazade forgot to say that the two powers thus 
associated — the Executive and the Legislative — were 
forced to the union by necessity ; that one of them at 
least had nothing more at heart than to disembarrass itself 
of the other, for, the proper moment arrived, it did not 
hesitate to do what it might have attempted earlier; 
and that it was one more reason why the other power — 
the Executive — should be on its guard. But M. de Maz- 
ade was not expected to say everything or to know every- 
thing. The important fact to be understood — and there 
is nothing to contradict the belief that M. de Mazade 
comprehended it — is that Thiers looked for guarantees 

* Ch. de Mazade, (1871 ), the voluminous contributor to the Revue des 

Deux Mondes, on literary, historical, and political topics, has edited, with 
but an occasional break, since 1852, and still edits, the able political Chro- 
niqtie, found at the end of this periodical. The citation in the text is from 
the Chronique of the number for August 1st, 1871. 



^ T- 74 ] Thiers s Presidency. 231 

of stability for himself outside of the good sense of his* 
associate, the Assembly. 

This was not an easy thing to do. The proposition 
of M. Rivet gave rise to a sharp discussion. It was car- 
ried, it is true, by a large majority — by a vote of 480 to 
93 ; but, in order to obtain this result, Thiers was forced 
to threaten to resign. 

This law — called the Rivet Constitution, after the name 
of the deputy who introduced it — marked out clearly the 
course to be followed by the two powers. It set up a 
sort of " principality " — to use the word of a talented 
publicist — for Thiers ; but this principality, this consulate 
of unlimited duration, though of necessity ever approach- 
ing its end, was not a stepping-stone to a monarchy ; it 
was the beginning of the Republic. M. Weiss,* the writer 
to whom we refer, said one day, at about this time, 
among some friends, that Thiers more than anybody else 
was laboring to found the Republic ; and he added, when 
asked the reasons of his opinion : " My reasons ? I have 
two, both of which are excellent, but which you will 
excuse me from developing. In the first place, M. Thiers 
detests the Orleans princes ; in the next place, he does 
not wish to be second in Paris." M. Weiss was unjust to 
Thiers in the vulgar interpretation that he placed upon 
his intentions, but the opinion was at bottom correct. 
Thiers was, indeed, resolved to found the Republic. This 

* J. J Weiss, (1827 ), professor, journalist and publicist ; at one time 

editor of the Journal des D/da/s, and founder of the Journal de Pat is. 



232 Life of Thiers. ^871. 

principality, which M. Weiss, in his newspaper, loved to 
shoot at with the arrows of his irony, had been estab- 
lished for this very purpose, namely, that it might even- 
tuate in the Republic. Thiers's opponents in the Assem- 
bly — more bitter than M. Weiss — saw this as clearly as did 
the latter. The title of " President of the Republic," con- 
ferred by the Assembly on the Chief Executive, proved 
this conclusively. The title of the book, so to speak, 
showed what was to be written. Its enemies thought, 
however, to render illusory the law that circumstances 
had forced them to pass. In the meanwhile, they strove 
to hinder the march of the Government by bringing up 
all sorts of troublesome and trifling questions, as, for 
example, the proposition of M. Dahirel,* a legitimist 
deputy, who wished to prohibit Thiers from mounting 
the tribune ; and a multitude of inquiries threatening to 
external peace, as, for instance, the question put' the 
Government by another legitimist deputy, concerning a 
favorable consideration of the temporal power of the 
Pope. The Assembly was thus ushering in a state of 
affairs, which, at a later day, became known as the policy 
of conflicts.^ 

The passage of the Rivet law was followed by a pro- 
rogation. The Assembly adjourned on September 18th, 
1871, leaving behind, in conformity to Article 32 of the 
Constitution of 1848, a permanent commission of twenty- 

* Dahirel (1804-1875), advocate ; legitimist deputy in 1848; protested 
against the coup d'etat and retired from public life ; and became a deputy 
in 1871. \ La politique des conjiits. 



/Et. 74.] Thiers s Presidency. 233 

five members, and did not re-assemble until December 4th 
of the same year. There was, therefore, a sort of lull 
in the political storm. The Government had ground to 
hope that the partisans of monarchy, brought into inter- 
course with their constituents, would see that the state 
of public opinion was. favorable to its policy and to the 
Republic. But nothing of the kind happened. The 
parties returned as they had separated. The monar- 
chists came back with all their old hopes and illusions, 
and with the intention of checking as before every pro- 
ject that Thiers should advance. The Left and the Left- 
Centre, on the other hand, were more than ever in favor 
of establishing an out-and-out Republic. 

Thiers had hoped that the minds of reasonable Orlean- 
ists would be changed by contact with their electors ; 
that some of them, seated on the extremity of the Left- 
Centre, might be detatched from their group, and that 
there would thus be brought together in the united Cen- 
tres, a compact mass of liberal conservatives favorable 
to the Republic, who would form the pivot of his policy. 
It was this idea that inspired the political portion of 
Thiers's message of December 7th, 1871. Thiers appears 
to speak in this document with premeditated complais- 
ance of the sovereign rights of the Assembly, to leave 
to its discretion the choice of the hour when it would be 
pleased to constitute his powers, to diminish himself to 
the point of becoming a " simple delegated administra- 
tor," and, in a word, to seem to forget and reduce to a 



234 Life of Thiers. [ I s 72 . 

zero the Rivet Constitution. Was this done for policy, 
or was it, as has been held, an act of capitulation ? It is 
certain that if Thiers was ready to surrender, it was only for 
a moment. Before and after the supplementary elections 
of January 7th, 1872,* he took a firm step in advance. 
His ministers, his friends, and Thiers himself, employed 
a language which could but re-assure republicans. M. 
Barthelemy-St. Hilaire, the President's secretary and con- 
fidential friend, who was rightly reputed to know all his 
secrets, wrote a letter which was made public, and in 
which he urged the candidacy of a radical, M. Testelin, f 
in the department of the North. On December 22d, 1871, 
M. Casimir Perier,^ Minister of the Interior, in a letter to 
the prefects of the departments, concerning their conduct 
in the approaching supplementary elections of January 7th, 
1872, spoke out clearly of the government of the Repub- 
lic. M. Dufaure refused to prosecute M. Ranc§ for having 
been for a short time connected with the government of 
the Commune, though the question was pressed by a 
member of the Assembly. A few days later, December 
26th, 1 871, Thiers himself, in a great speech on the budget, 

* These were the first parliamentary elections that occurred after those of 
July, 1871. Eight deputies were chosen, of whom three were monarchial. 
Among the five republican deputies, two were radicals. 

f Testelin, (1814 ), physician and republican politician ; deputy of 

the Left in 1848 ; exiled at the coup d'etat ; deputy since 1871 ; and now 
(1878) life-senator. 

JCasimir Perier, (1811-1875,) son of the celebrated minister of Louis-Phil- 
ippe, (see page 58,) economist, diplomatist, and liberal politician ; deputy 
from 1846 to 1848 ; deputy under the February Republic ; member of the 
Academy of Moral Sciences in 1867 ; and senator at the time of his death. 

§M. Ranc — elected deputy on May nth, 1873 — was, however, con- 
demned to death, through contumacy, on November 13th, of this same year. 



^et. 75.] Thiers s Presidency. 235 

said, amidst the applause of the Left, that he intended to 
give the Republic a fair trial, and that he did not mean 
to conceal himself under a mask. 

" This trial should be made seriously and sincerely," he 
said ; " and I see every day by your sensible votes, that 
you are all of my opinion. No, we are not comedians, 
but sincere men. We want it to be an honest trial. Gen- 
tlemen, I wish to unite you, not divide you ; and when I 
speak of sincerity and honesty, I do not divide you, on 
the contrary, I unite you. I am speaking to those who 
wish that this trial be successful, and I address myself to 
this whole Assembly. But I am speaking more especially 
to those who are thoroughly friendly to the Republic, 
and I am of that number. I call upon them in the name 
of the secret and profound wishes of their hearts, in the 
name of universal justice, to stand by the Republic." 

M. Ernest Picard, holding the same opinions as Thiers, 
proposed, a few days after the elections of January 7th, 
1872, in a caucus of the Left Center, that an end be put 
to the provisional Republic, and that a definite and per- 
manent Republic be proclaimed, that two Chambers be 
created, and that the Assembly be elected by thirds. 

This step in advance was singularly aided, we are forced 
to admit, by the mistakes of the enemies of the Republic, 
by their divisions and by the ever-increasing difference 
that existed between their own views and those of the 
country, as revealed in every supplementary election.* The 

* There were six supplementary elections during Thiers's presidency, at 
which 157 deputies were chosen. Out of this number, only twenty-one were 



236 Life of Thiers. [1872. 

applause which Thiers and his government received from 
France and Europe, also helped on the new movement. 

One of Thiers's ministers remarked to us one day, on 
leaving the Assembly Chamber at Versailles : " When you 
leave that hall, you really feel like getting out of a luna- 
tic asylum." M. Edgar Quinet * used the same language, 
and repeated what he had said of another Assembly : 
" They were a body of children crying on the edge of an 
abyss : Republic or Monarchy ! Life or death ! Head or 
tail ! On coming nearer I saw that these children were 
old men. They bore the wrinkles of several centuries ; 
their hearts had not beaten in their breasts for years out 
of mind ; and they discussed questions that concerned 
the blood and tears of the world." These judgments 
were not far from right ; for, if it be the part of a fool 
and a child to set at naught the spirit of the age and 
of his country, no Assembly — not even that of which 
M. Quinet spoke — better deserved the charge of puerility 
and folly, than that by which Thiers was harassed. But 
it is not so much an absence of good sense and a disre- 
gard of public opinion, as a lack of dignity and contin- 
uity, that strikes one most forcibly in observing the con- 
duct of this Assembly. 

When we yield to necessity it should be done with 

monarchists, and of the remainder, no less than fifty-eight were radical 
republicans. 

* Quinet, (1803-1875,) author and radical ; deputy in 1G48 ; an exile dur- 
ing the Empire ; deputy from 1871 to 1875 ; voluminous contributor to 
the Revtie des Deux Mondes, and author of various historical, political and 
critical works. 



^Ex. 75 .j Thiers s Presidency. 237 

firmness. This is as true in politics as in anything else. 
Thiers so acted under the Empire, and the republican 
party did the same, opposing the Government only in the 
name of a self-evident right and of imprescriptible prin- 
ciples. Nothing of this kind is seen in the attitude of the 
leaders of the majority under this " principality," which, 
they had accepted, and which was not forced upon them 
as the Empire had been upon Thiers and the republican 
leaders. At every instant the majority brought up ques- 
tions which it dared not resolve, and raised objections which 
it was well aware it could not defend. It knew not how 
to patiently champ its bit, nor to carry out its audacious 
machinations. Such a course redounded to the detri- 
ment of the Majority. The motion concerning the 
temporal power of the Pope — which has already been 
referred to — -was an act sufficiently insane to destroy a 
party in a country enjoying free speech and a free press ; 
and M. Dahirel, by trying to shut the tribune against 
Thiers, only attested the power of his words. 

The opposition shown to Thiers's personal views con- 
cerning this or that question, demonstrated more forcibly 
than ever the necessity of his remaining at the head of 
affairs ; for, having forced him into a corner, the reac- 
tionists would, in their success, fall to fighting among 
themselves. All this irritated and sometimes roused the 
indignation of Thiers. But, upon the whole, he profited 
by it, as did the Republic also. The nation was the more 
impressed with the importance of keeping him in power, 



238 Life of Thiers. ^872. 

and he himself was the more determined to preserve 
France from falling into such hands. 

The claimants to the throne of France, on their side, 
seemed carried away by the prevailing spirit of madness, 
and either fell into disrepute or abdicated. The Orleans 
princes — the Duke d'Aumale and the Prince de Joinville 
— named deputies, having promised Thiers, in the interest 
of public peace, not to take their seats, broke their word, 
and were admitted to the Chamber on a motion made by a 
clerical legitimist. The Count de Chambord, the legiti- 
mist heir, issued manifesto after manifesto, and declared 
in each one that he would never be the king of the French 
Revolution ! As for the son of Napoleon III, he guarded 
a profound silence, and seemed to be buried in oblivion. 

But what aided the Government much more than the 
faults and follies of princes and parties, what strength- 
ened it in its determination to proceed from a provisional 
to a definitive form, was its own wisdom, and its rapid pro- 
gress in reconstructing the country. For all the difficul- 
ties thrown in its way, all the agitations of parliamentary 
life, did not turn the Government for one single instant 
from its task of building up shattered France. 

In order to form an idea of the activity employed by 
Thiers in governing, in reconstructing the country, in re- 
establishing the finances, in remodeling the army, in pre- 
senting a good front to Europe and the world, we must 
read the budget for 1873 prepared by Thiers, and the 
speeches that he made in support of it. So also should be 



jet. 75.] Thiers s Presidency. 239 

studied the picture that he painted on March 30th, 1872, 
of the condition of the Government and the country, of 
the progress of good order, of the esprit de corps of the 
army, " which considers itself to-day," he said, " not 
the army of this or that faction, but the army of the 
law," and of the spirit of the European governments and 
their feelings towards France. The impression that one 
receives in looking on this picture — but a few outlines of 
which we have given — is something like that produced 
on the soul by a calm after a violent tempest, or a sudden 
and powerful regeneration of a broken and ruined mass. 

Republican sentiment, therefore, was growing among 
the people. It was not necessary to proclaim the 
Republic in order that it might exist. It was wel- 
comed for its works. But a last act was about to increase 
this favorable impression, an act that struck the public 
mind as a victory, and thus gave another decisive advance 
to the republican cause. For Thiers had not neglected 
the second part of his task — that of establishing the Re- 
public — any more than he had the first part — that of 
regenerating the country. It would be puerile, however, 
to say that he governed only for the purpose of founding 
the Republic ; but it is unquestionable, that his design 
was to turn the successful acts of the Government to the 
profit of the Republic and its definitive establishment. 

After the defeat of the Commune, Thiers had recourse 
to national credit in order to satisfy the more press- 
ing demands of the situation. In order to efface the last 



240 Life of Thiers. [isfa 

traces of the war and the insurrection, in order to restore 
France to herself, he made a great effort, and secured 
Bismarck's consent to a convention, which hastened the 
evacuation of French soil by the German army by nearly 
two years, France to anticipate the payments of the war 
indemnities agreed upon between the two Powers. On 
July 2nd, 1872, M. de Remusat,* Minister of Foreign 
Affairs, laid the convention before the Assembly, and 
asked for a loan of seven hundred millions of dollars. 
The Majority, hostile to the Government, saw the blow 
that would be dealt it by this successful measure, and it 
did not possess enough sang-froid or dignity to conceal 
its wrath. In the first place, the convention was attacked 
in the committees by such leaders of the Opposition as 
the Duke deBroglie, Buffet,f Daru,^: Rouher, etc. They 
soon changed their minds, however, when they saw that 
public opinion was rising against them, and the Duke de 
Broglie, the chairman of the committee to which the con- 
vention was referred, reported favorably upon it, and it 
was ratified on July 6th, 1872. The Minister of the 
Finances was thus authorized to negotiate the loan, which 
was announced on July 21st, 1872, in the Journal Officiel, 
and two weeks thereafter the Government obtained not 

* Count de Remusat, (1797-1875), friend of Thiers in the July Revolution 
(see pp. 36 and 48); liberal statesman, philosopher, and member of the 
French Academy. His son, M. Paul de Remusat, is now (1878) a deputy. 

fM. Buffet, (1818 ), has held since 1871 the position of deputy, 

President of the Chamber of Deputies, Premier, and is now (1878) a life- 
senator. 

X Count Daru, (1807 ), son of the well-known Count Daru of the 

first Empire ; Peer of France in 1832 ; deputy in 1848 ; and Minister of 
Foreign Affairs for a short time under Ollivier in 1870. 



jet. 75 .] Thiers s Presidency. 241 

only the seven hundred millions of dollars that it had 
asked for, but over seven thousand millions in addition ! 

The effect of such a result was tremendous. It was 
not only amazing, but most profoundly touching. The 
country, from all sides sent to the President its tokens of 
grateful acknowledgement. It was also remarked, that 
the only opponents of the Government in this project, 
were found among the monarchists. Thus the Republic 
was again benefited by Thiers's ability and the faults of 
its enemies. 

The moment was therefore arrived to take up the sec- 
ond task, that of giving the country a permanent form 
of government. The capability of the Republic as a 
government was no longer doubtful. The desire of 
the country was evident ; all the elections, municipal, de- 
partmental and national, gave majorities for the republi- 
can candidates. The end of the provisional government was 
called for on every hand. The country was tired of the 
prevailing incertitude. The people longed for security 
after so many trials, and they hoped to find it in the 
organization of a definitive government. 

The Pact of Bordeaux, furthermore, clearly demanded 
this, for it had in view two objects: the reconstruction of 
the country, first in the matter of order, and secondly by 
the establishment of a government. The first of these 
aims was attained. The second remained to be accom- 
plished. But did this second task appertain to the present 
Assembly, or to a new one to be elected ? On this 



242 Life of Thiers. \_^ii. 

point, however, the Majority and the Government were 
agreed, though the republicans as a body demanded the 
dissolution of the Assembly and the election of a new one. 
Thiers had already recognized the constituent power of 
the Assembly, and he had no idea of asking it to re- 
nounce this right. He even preferred perhaps to work 
with this Assembly, than to run the risk of having to do 
with a younger and bolder body, in which he might en- 
counter greater opposition, not only to the government 
that he wished to found, but to his personal views, and to 
the plan of a constitution which he had in mind. But 
as regards the question of the necessity of establishing a 
government, his stand was irrevocably taken, and, on No- 
vember 13th, 1872, in a message, he formally demanded 
of the Assembly that it pass from the provisional to the 
definitive, that it put a period to that critical state of 
affairs which Gambetta termed, " the incertitude of the 
morrow." * 

The success of the venture was very uncertain. Thiers 
had calculated all the chances. He had against him the 
legitimists, the clericals, the Bonapartists, under the 
leadership of the veteran Rouher, and the intriguing 
spirit and ambition which the friends of the Orleans 
princes employed, with the expectation of realizing their 
long delayed hopes. But he had for him, the enlight- 
ened opinion of the country and of Europe, and the 
whole republican party, which, though nettled by his 

* Speech in the Assembly at the sitting of December 14th, 1872. 



^e t . 75< ] Thiers s Presidency. 243 

opposition to a dissolution of the Chamber, was ready 
to back him on this question. In the Majority there was 
a faction of the Right-Centre, made up of old liberals 
favorable to the constitutional monarchy, who saw that 
circumstances demanded the Republic. Here perhaps 
lay the balance of power. There were, therefore, grounds 
for hoping that reason would prevail. Thiers, conse- 
quently, thought himself able to meet the attack. He 
began the struggle by the message just referred to, a 
document, which — to use the words of Gambetta — " made 
to leap the heart of France," * a page of history which 
can be placed side by side with the best Thiers ever wrote. 

* Speech of December 14th, 1872. 



CHAPTER IX. 

THE FALL OF THIERS. — MAY 24th, 1 873. 

Thiers says in the History of the Consulate and Em- 
pire : * " There are in all parties two divisions : one large 
and sincere, that can be gained by carrying out the wishes 
of the people ; the other small, inflexible and factious, 
which is provoked by carrying out these wishes, and is 
vexed because its pretexts for existence have been re- 
moved." 

Thiers was about to prove, by his own experience, 
the truth of this assertion. The greater division, spread 
through the nation, had been easily brought over to 
the Republic, because, even under its provisional form, 
the Republic had responded to the desires of the 
country ; but the other division, secreted in the Assem- 
bly, the inflexible and factious division, angry because 
' the existence of the phantoms that it called upon 
daily was in danger — (for Thiers's message had shown 
the groundlessness of the feigned or real fears of the 
conservatives) — furious because the longings of the 
country were to be gratified, determined to punish 
Thiers for having pierced the bubble of their pretensions. 

* Vol. II., page 172. 



^e t . 75 .] The Fall of Thiers. 245 

It was the conservative spirit that the message breathed, 
the title of " Conservative Republic " on which Thiers 
had based his work, as on a rock, that troubled them the 
most. For, if the proposed Republic satisfied the con- 
servative spirit, what would become of the party which 
pretended to alone represent this spirit ? The very ground 
on which it stood was taken from under it. The bond, 
which united the heterogeneous elements of which it was 
composed, was broken at a blow before the eyes of the 
world. 

The struggle that followed is one of the most curious, 
and one of the saddest that the history of French parties 
presents. The means, the acts, the passions brought 
into play, are marked by a character that is sui generis, 
which recalls at the same time the spirit of the Lower 
Empire and of China. The enterprise was not only sense- 
less and wicked, senseless because monarchy was impos- 
sible, wicked because it prolonged the anxieties of the 
country and abandoned it to the unknown future ; but 
what was done to carry out the undertaking, reveals a 
spirit of knavery and scepticism, that grieves and makes 
blush the patriot. 

Duke Victor de Broglie, father of the present Duke 
Albert de Broglie, has written in his book, entitled Views 
on the Government of France, that the friends of consti- 
tutional monarchy, ought, if circumstances establish the 
Republic, to accept it honestly, and wait patiently until 
the course of events, so changeable in France,, produces a 



246 . Life of Thiers. [1872. 

man or finds a prince capable of founding a monarchy.* 
This idea — though entirely perverted — was the pivot 
on which turned the policy of the Right under the leader- 
ship of the Duke Albert de Broglie. In the mind of the 
father, it implied an honest treatment of the Republic, not 
a Machiavelian opposition to whomsoever wished to try 
republicanism. To the son it had become a system of 
government. The father held that the situation of affairs, 
whence was to issue a constitutional monarchy, must be 
quietly awaited. The son, believed that it should be 
forced forward, that it should be sought by every possi- 
ble means, that violence should be employed if events 
did not naturally so shape themselves, as to favor the 
realization of the preconceived idea. 

The whole policy of the Duke de Broglie, from Febru- 
ary 8th, 1 87 1, up to the day of Thiers's overthrow, is ex- 
plained on this ground. For a moment Thiers had been 
looked to for the realization of the conception of the old 
duke. But he had refused the role. When pressed by the 
Orleans princes — Joinville and Aumale — to restore the 
July Monarchy, he politely declined in their presence, and 
remarked to Madame Thiers after their departure : " These 
young fellows, I know them, do I not ? Always for them- 
selves ; themselves first ; the country afterwards. When 
I served their father, I did not serve his fortune— I served 
France. I greatly respect the memory of the king, but 
his children's affairs are not those of the country. They 

* Vues sur le Gouvemement de la France, pp. 226-7. 



jE Tm 75- ] The Fall of Thiers. 247 

have too often confounded the two ; but I do not con- 
found them. These princes wish me to become Orleanist 
again ; but I desire to act for the good of my country ."* 
Thiers, therefore, had to be gotten rid of, and 
government plunged into confusion. For might not a 
more pliant man thus be found, a tractable agent, who, 
if he would not bring about a constitutional monarchy in 
a day would pave the way for it, until time, amid its in- 
finite vicissitudes, should smile upon the realization of 
the paternal conception ? Thiers, however, was not to 
be eas.ly broken down, though he was not, at the same 
time, inpregnable. Though the Rivet Constitution gave 
him tfe right to hold office as long as the Assembly 
lasted, le could voluntarily resign, and his inclination so 
to do (ould be easily increased. He was weary, and he 
had the highest respect for the law of majorities, which 
had been the ruling principle of his whole political life. 
To drive him from power, it was only necessary to con- 
tinuallyharass him, and to force him into a situation, 
where le would have to choose between this life-long 
principle and the Rivet Constitution. Such a situation, 
consequtntly, was to be brought about, and a majority — 
decisive for the moment — was to be found. This was 
the plar of the Duke de Broglie, the final success of 
which tre remainder of this chapter will show. 

It is oily necessary to follow attentively the debate on 
the messige, to discover at every turn the plan of attack 

* Mrs. Enily Crawford in Macmillari s Magazine, November, 1877, p. 24. 



248 



Life of Thiers. 



[1872. 



that we have just indicated. The struggle began by f 
manoeuvre which was not wanting in cleverness. As tie 
Republic could only stand by a union of all the factions 
of the republican party in the Assembly, an attei/ipt 
was made to embroil Thiers with Gambetta, who repre- 
sented the advanced portion of the republican party, 
baptized under the name of the radical party, arid, at 
the same time, to frighten the moderate Left-Centre by 
visions of the " red spectre." The attempt failed, ac least 
for the moment. Though Thiers did not approve of 
many of Gambetta's more radical utterances, |e was 
very careful not to break with the strong parly that 
Gambetta represented, and, on the other hand,jhe did 
all he could to dispel the real or pretended fears, that 
these speeches gave rise to among the more moderate 
republicans. 

Thiers, in the course of the debate, defied the monarch- 
ists to found a monarchy. The Duke de Broglie re ponded 
to this challenge by trying to make Thiers hims^f a con- 
stitutional monarch. He caused the committee, 
had been referred the message of November 



propose a law concerning ministerial responsibili 

was equivalent to putting the Government in the 

the Majority, that is to say, the Monarchy, aril giving 

full scope to the intriguers who were workirg for it 

Thiers replied by substituting for the measure tlat would 

bind him hand and foot, the following propositon : " A 

Committee of Thirty shall be appointed by thb various 



o which 
13th, to 
y. This 
lands of 



&£• 75-] The Fall of Thiers. 249 

parties, to draw up a law to be presented to the Assem- 
bly, fixing the powers of the different branches of govern- 
ment, and the conditions of ministerial responsibility." 

This was the question so dreaded by the Majority, 
which, by a skillful move, the Government thus brought 
forward and forced upon its deliberations. Instead of an 
under-handed thrust, Thiers gave a direct and open blow, 
that conformed to the demands of the situation and to 
the dignity of his Government. The Duke de Broglie's 
motion affected Thiers and his ministers alone ; Thiers's 
proposition would regulate the powers of the Assembly, 
as well as the powers of the President and his ministers, 
would, in short, establish a permanent government, the 
very thing the monarchists did not want. So the com- 
mittee sustained the measure of the duke. 

It was November 28th, 1872, and public opinion was at 
a high pitch of excitement. The enlightened and im- 
partial portion of the country demanded what Thiers also 
wished, a permanent government. Ministerial responsibil- 
ity, in the eyes of the country as in the eyes of Thiers, was 
only one of the elements of the great problem The 
people longed to put a period to this state of affairs. In 
order to meet this demand, M. Dufaure, the Minister of 
Justice, brought forward the above-mentioned proposition 
of the Government, and on November 29th, 1872, he began 
the debate Thiers came to his support with his usual 
talent, and again baffled the calculations of his enemies. 
He had no difficulty in showing that the proposition of 



25o Life of Thiers. [1872-73. 

the Majority — offered under a parliamentary mask — was 
simply a stealthy personal attack. M. Dufaure's propo- 
sition, which, as we have said, had for its object the 
establishment of a permanent government, and which de- 
voted to the question of ministerial responsibility, in the 
general problem, only as much attention as properly be- 
longed to it, was adopted and referred to the proposed 
Committee of Thirty. 

In spite of this new check, the monarchists did not 
consider themselves lost. The bill was carried by only 
thirty-seven majority. These thirty-seven deputies could 
be influenced. There are in all parties timid, change- 
able and corruptible consciences. The reference of the 
bill to the Committee of Thirty gave them time to be 
worked upon. 

It would be too long to enter into the details of the 
vast intrigue, whose threads end in the Committee of 
Thirty, and whose object was the overthrow of Thiers. 
We can only touch upon its principal phases. Thiers, 
planting himself on his message, presented a bold front 
to the committee. 

The committee was appointed on December 5th, 1872. 
Thiers appeared before it on December 16th, spoke for 
a long time with much good sense and ability, and con- 
cluded by saying, " that the best thing to do is to con- 
solidate what exists." On his second appearance before 
the committee, on January 14th, 1873, he limited his re- 
marks to some general observations concerning a counter- 



jet. 75-76.] The Fall of Thiers. 25 1 

project of a conciliatory nature, offered by M. Tallon.* 
Finally, on February 5th, 1873, in an examination of this 
whole project of M. Tallon, in which his critics were 
not spared, he devoted his attention more especially to 
the inconvenience and absurdity of the article, which 
regulated the conditions and the forms to be observed 
in the communications of the President with the Assem- 
bly. The article required that the President communi- 
cate with the Assembly by messages ; that he be heard 
when he thinks if proper, and after the presentation of a 
necessary message ; that debate be suspended when he 
speaks on a question ; that he be heard again on the 
next day, unless a special vote give him permission to 
speak on the same day ; that there be an adjournment 
after his speech ; that debate be resumed only at a sub- 
sequent sitting; that the debate take place out of his 
presence, etc. 

" All this is very complicated," said Thiers. " Permit 
me to say that in following it, we shall resemble the Chi- 
nese, who, on solemn occasions make polite salutations, 
which those thus honored return as they show them out. 
Then the latter come back, and the same politeness is 
repeated. Surely this proposition is not put forward in 
earnest." 

No, in truth it was not in earnest, but the following 
remark of M. Dufaure, made on February 7th, 1873, before 
the committee, was really in earnest. The article relating 

* Tallon, ([828 ), republican politician and journalist; became a 

deputy in 1871, and is still (1878) a member of the Chamber. 



252 Life of Thiers. [1873. 

to the establishment of two Chambers and the revision of 
the electoral laws, was being discussed. M. Dufaure read 
an amendment which had been drawn up by the minis- 
ters, in which it was urged that " without delay" special 
laws be passed, concerning the composition and manner 
of electing a new Assembly in place of the one then in 
existence, concerning the organization of the executive 
power, etc. The words " without delay" fell on the ears 
of the Majority like a funeral knell, as was remarked by 
one of its members. The legitimists and Orleanists of 
the Majority knew very well that they would not be 
returned, if a new election were to occur, and they did 
not wish to disappear from the political arena. The 
Government had regard for this weakness, effaced the 
objectionable words, and a sort of accord was established. 
On February 19th, 1873, the committee adopted, with 
slight modifications, M. Dufaure's amendment, by a vote 
of nineteen to seven, and the question of a constitution 
was finally brought before the Chamber. 

Thiers said one day in a circle of friends : " I assure 
you that a majority — what is called a majority in 
parliamentary language — I never had for one minute in 
the Assembly elected on February 8th, 1871 — an incon- 
gruous body composed of monarchical factions. I made 
successive majorities for every important and necessary 
question. You have blamed me for not having estab- 
lished the Republic quickly enough. I took up 'the most 
important thing first : I made haste to free French soil 



je t , 7 6.] The Fall of Thiers. 253 

from foreign troops before I should be overthrown, and 
so be too late." 

Thiers here refers to the time which preceded the lay- 
ing before the Chamber of the question of a constitution. 
Then it was that these majorities, the product of chance 
and necessity, began to fail him. It was a fatal situa- 
tion. The Committee on the Constitution — the Com- 
mittee of Thirty — did not resist Thiers very stoutly 
to his face, satisfied to make up behind his back and 
by increased hostility in the Chamber, for the conces- 
sions made through timidity, decorum or calculation. 
But even if a majority of the committee had been 
sincere in the concessions made in private, could the 
Orleanist leaders — when the question came up for dis- 
cussion before the Assembly — have been induced, by 
argument or patriotism, to recognize the necessity of 
establishing the Republic, when they saw that they 
would not be followed by the legitimists, or even by 
their own rank and file ? In order that these men — and 
1 we are speaking of the more intelligent portion of the 
Orleanist party — might grasp the actual state of affairs, it 
was necessary that they see with their own eyes the check 
of the monarchical fusion — the legitimist, Orleanist and 
Bonapartist combination, the failure of the Septennat * 
to bring about a monarchial restoration as they had hoped, 
the impotence of their ministerial chiefs against growing 

* In November, 1873, the National Assembly prolonged MacMahon's 
term of office to seven years. 



254 Life of Thiers. \\%i%. 

republicanism, and, in a word, that the cycle of their mis- 
conceptions, which began after the fall of Thiers, on May 
24th, 1873, be completed. All these lessons were taught 
them by the events which followed the downfall of Thiers. 

The reception of the report of the Committee of 
Thirty by the Assembly proved, that even if the com- 
mittee had been honest in its concessions, the Chamber 
would not have backed it. The Duke de Broglie as 
chairman, presented the report on February 21st, 1873. 
He was only applauded by the Right-Centre, composed 
of the more liberal monarchists. And the duke himself, 
he who had devised. the intrigue, who had conducted all 
its operations, and who, from the beginning, had endeav- 
ored to veil its real purposes, was not able, throughout 
the whole debate, to hold the ground he had decided to 
stand upon. On February 28th, 1873, in answer to a 
speech of Gambetta against the report, he could not re- 
strain himself from saying : " We will not rally around 
the Republic, but around the Commonwealth.'* 

The debate continued fifteen days, from February 27th 
to March 13th, 1873. Thiers was placed in a very false 
situation. The Committee of Thirty had yielded only in 
appearance. A part of the Left was opposed to the idea 
of two Chambers, which he had favored in concert with the 
committee, and was not willing that the existing Assem- 
bly decide upon a constitution for the country. The Left 

* Nous nous rallierons non pas a la Republique, mais a. la chose pub- 
lique. 



&?, 7 6.] The Fall of Thiers. 255 

held that this Assembly had been elected in 187 1 to choose 
between war or peace with Prussia ; that it did not repre- 
sent the opinions of France in 1873, and so was not fitted 
to determine what the government of the country should 
be. To get out of the difficulty, and accomplish the 
liberation of the country from the German occupation, 
Thiers had recourse to the Pact of Bordeaux, on the 
one hand, thus satisfying the Right, which wished to pro- 
long the provisional state of the government ; and, on 
the other hand, he declared, in order to please the Left, 
which desired to put an end to this provisional govern- 
ment, but by another Assembly, that dissolution should 
forthwith follow the liberation of the territory, thus giving 
all parties to understand that the constituent power of the 
Assembly, however incontestable it might be, should not 
be exercised. It was only by these concessions, which 
neutralized each other, and which were only justified in 
his eyes by a patriotic anxiety for the deliverance of 
French, soil, that he succeeded in securing a majority. 
The bill reported by the committee was adopted March 
13th, 1873, by a vote of 407 to 225. 

It was another victory, apparently very great, but in 
reality very small. Nobody was deceived by it. The 
Duke de Broglie was working secretly to pervert the law, 
v/hich he had proposed, from the Republic to " the Com- 
monwealth," constructing in his mind out of this preten- 
tious and puerile conceit a machine of war, to be used first 
against Thiers, and then to undermine the essay at a re- 



256 Life of Thiers. ^873. 

public, which Thiers wished to make a success. By this 
means the duke hoped to pave the way for a monarchy, 
or for something resembling a monarchy. This was 
not a difficult task ; for, to accomplish it, there was 
only needed a firm and decisive majority, which would 
not be frightened at the uncertainty always occasioned 
in timid minds by the thought of the absence of executive 
power. The interval of the recess — from April to the 
beginning of May — was employed in getting together this 
majority, and in finding a man fitted by ambition or intel- 
ligence to lend himself to the scheme, and to dare to 
take the place of the deposed " sinister old man," as 
Thiers's enemies at this epoch designated him. 

At this moment an event happened which, it would 
seem, ought to have arrested the movement, but which 
in fact only precipitated it. On March 16th, 1873, the 
Journal Officiel published a note which announced that 
French soil would be entirely free by September 5th, 
that is to say, nearly two years before the stipulated 
time. The effect of this news was immense throughout 
all France. In the Assembly, M. Christophle,* of the Left- 
Centre, moved that a vote of thanks be offered Thiers 
by acclamation. The Majority refused to thank him by 
acclamation, seeing what increased authority* this great 
stroke of policy was to give the President, and what a de- 
cisive check it might prove to the monarchical hopes of 

* Christophle, (1830 ), jurisconsult and republican politician; Min- 
ister of Public Works in 1S76 ; and deputy since 1871. 



jet. 76.] The Fall of Thiers. 2Sy 

the Chamber. Under the influence of such unworthy feel- 
ings, the Majority higgled over a recognition of its acknowl- 
edgement, and claimed a part in the work, thus doing a 
double wrong, for — as Gambetta himself once admitted 
to us — nobody but Thiers could have obtained such a 
result, and the Assembly had assisted him only in so far 
as it was forced to. This action was also unfortunate, be- 
cause, since it increased Thiers's reputation and diminished 
the number of his enemies, the intriguers saw that they 
must make haste to destroy him, or that the time would 
come when they would not be able to do it. The country 
fully recognized the merit of the great work, and in pro- 
portion as it admired Thiers, it hated a selfish Assembly, 
which, to its other faults, now added that of ingratitude. 
This feeling showed itself in the supplementary elections, 
which were frequent, and which would soon give the 
party that favored a dissolution a majority in the Assem- 
bly, and thus put a period to the monarchical plots. It 
was, therefore, decided that Thiers should be overturned 
at any price, and so soon as possible. 

An unforseen incident — doubtless pre-arranged by the 
Duke de Broglie's followers — gave new strength and 
encouragement to the intriguers. M. Grevy, President 
of the Assembly, wounded by an appeal from a decision 
of the chair, concerning a call to order which had been 
justly inflicted on a member of the Right, handed in his 
resignation, which, though not accepted by the depu- 
ties, he insisted upon, because he did. not think the 



2 58 Life of Thiers. [1873. 

vote large enough. It was a grave symptom of the state 
of mind in the Assembly, not only among the members 
of the Majority, but also among the supporters of 
the Government. The audacity of the attacking party in- 
creased, while the defense became weaker. M. Buffet, 
one of the chiefs of the intrigue, replaced M. Grevy as 
President of the Assembly. The intrigue was sure of 
the floating group placed between the two Centres, after- 
wards known under the name of the Target* Group, and 
also of the connivance of Marshal MacMahon. Every- 
thing was prepared for the decisive day. 

We have spoken elsewhere of Thiers's Waterloo. f His 
real Waterloo was that of May 24th, 1873. The resem- 
blance is perfect, even in its treason. Thiers came upon 
the battle field resolved to fight to the bitter end. He 
was not ignorant of the design of his enemies, since they 
had urged him the night before, to aid them in a mon- 
archical restoration. He also knew their plan of battle : 
their newspapers had declared that it was a question of 
protecting conservative interests. In order to destroy 
the force of this argument, not in the minds of those 
who had invented it — this was of course impossible — but 
in the minds of the people, he selected a ministry whose 
conservative spirit it was impossible to deny. The pre- 
ceding ministry was dissolved on the occasion of a speech 

* M. Target was a liberal monarchist who figured in the first Assembly of 
the present Republic. 
\ See page 188. 



je Ti 7 6.] The Fall of Thiers. 2 5g 

at the Sorbonne * by M. Jules Simon, who, referring to 
the liberation of France from the Prussian soldiers, at- 
tributed the honor to Thiers alone. It was replaced 
May 1 8th, 1873, by a ministry selected from the Left- 
Centre, in which Casimir Perier, Waddington, \ and 
Berenger \ had portfolios. 

The names, the antecedents, and the social position of 
the new ministers would have satisfied the most timid 
members of the Right, had they not been determined to be 
frightened. Some of them, however, were possessed of an 
honest fear. A deputy of the Majority, to whom, on 
this very 24th of May, we expressed the regret that they 
did not wait at least until the Prussians had gone, before 
beginning the struggle, said to us naively and seriously : 
" We have other things to think of than the Prussians ; 
we have worse enemies than they." But such was the 
feverish state of the minds of the deputies, that, on the 
very day of the re-assembling of the Chamber after the 
Easter holidays, May 19th, 1873, M. Buffet, President of 
the Assembly, presented a communication — an " interpel- 
lation " — drawn up by the Right in these terms : " The 

* The Sorbonne is the historic centre of Paris university learning. Here 
are the faculties of science, letters and theology, and here also occur the great 
university ceremonies. 

f Waddington, (1826 ), a naturalized Frenchman, born at Paris of 

English parents and educated at Cambridge ; made a member of the Acad- 
emy of Inscriptions and Belles-lettres in 1869, on account of his profound 
study of numismatics ; entered politcs in 1871 as a republican deputy ; Min- 
ister of Public Instruction in 1873 ; elected senator in 1876 ; and to-day 
(1878) Minister of Foreign Affairs. 

% Berenger, (1830 ), advocate and conservative republican ; deputy and 

minister under the present republic ; and now (1878) life-senator. 



260 Life of Thiers. [^73. 

undersigned, convinced that the gravity of the situation 
demands at the head of public affairs a cabinet whose 
firmness will assure the country, desire to question the 
ministry concerning the modifications made in its opin- 
ions, and to demand that the Government pursue a policy 
that is resolutely conservative." 

Hostilities thus begun, the signers of this interpella- 
tion, impatient of a success, which they considered as 
certain, wished to precipitate the battle immediately. M. 
Dufaure said that the Government was taken by surprise, 
and asked time to deliberate. He then laid before the 
Chamber the bills concerning the organization of the 
different branches of the Government and the creation of 
a second Chamber. The Right and the Right-Centre 
refused to allow the bills to be read, and a sitting and 
standing vote — both equally doubtful — were decided in 
their favor. Thiers was now certain of his fate. All that 
remained, was to fall with honor. 

The Extreme-Left has been accused of fanning the 
flames by a resolution of M. Peyrat,* which would force 
the Assembly, after a delay of fifteen days, to vote its 
dissolution. We do not think the accusation very grave. 
This movement could not have had any influence on the 
Right, which was well aware that if it were vanquished, 
a dissolution would follow in the natural course of events. 
Its plan was distinctly marked out, and was irrevocable. 

*Peyrat (1812 ), publicist and radical politician ; deputy since 1871 ; 

and now (1878) senator. 



yEx. 7 6.] The Fall of Thiers. 261 

Its majority was sure. This was seen by the re-election 
of M. Buffet to the presidency of the Assembly, for he 
gained fifty-five votes over the first election. The Orlean- 
ists and the legitimists were united for the work of de- 
struction in the name of conservative principles, and 
nothing, at this moment, could tighten or loosen the 
knots that bound this coalition together. 

The same day, M. Dufaure announced that the Govern- 
ment would reply on Friday, May 23d, to the questions 
asked by the Majority. Though the public longed for an 
end to the struggle, it did not see the crisis draw near 
without anxiety. All Paris was in a state of solicitude. 
At an early hour of the 23d, Versailles began to show 
signs of more than usual animation. The Assembly 
Chamber was filled. Thiers's family occupied the presi- 
dential box. Marshal Mac-Mahon, in civilian dress, was 
present, as mute and unmoved as a sphinx. A group of 
officers in uniform surrounded him. The whole diplo- 
matic corps was there. Thiers was seated on the govern- 
ment bench, anxious not for himself, but for the country, 
which his fall might afflict with new troubles. At the 
beginning of the sitting, M. Dufaure informed the As- 
sembly that the President intended to exercise his right 
of speaking. Then the Duke de Broglie took the tribune, 
in order to develop the questions addressed to the Gov- 
ernment. The speeches of M. Dufaure and the Duke 
de Broglie filled up the whole sitting of May 23d. The 
latter was one long harangue, a labored and passionate 



262 Life of Thiers. 



[1873. 



development of one single accusation presented under a 
multitude of different forms, namely, that Thiers had too 
much regard for the radical party, and that his alliance with 
this party disturbed the conservatives ; the former — the 
speech of M. Dufaure— was a rapid and energetic refuta- 
tion of the accusation, sharpened with irony, which closed 
with the declaration, that the power of the radical party — 
about which the Majority made such great ado — was one 
of the very reasons why he and his friends wished a fixed 
government, and had presented to the consideration of 
the Assembly constitutional laws that would bring this 
about. " We presented them in all honesty," he said. 
" We were ready to declare to you that, if you did not 
grant what we demanded, namely, the recognition of the 
republican government, we would not feel ourselves any 
longer responsible for order in the country." 

Social danger was only used as a pretext by the Duke 
de Broglie, as Thiers the next day clearly showed, while 
he brought the question back to its true ground, that of 
politics. Thiers's speech — one of the most remarkable 
he ever made — was at the same time a comprehensive re- 
trospective review of the two years of his presidency so full 
of grand efforts, a vigorous apology for his policy which was 
ever sincere in its declarations, loyal in its acts, conserva- 
tive in the loftiest sense, unmerciful to the disorderly, 
moderate, impartial, with no other aim than the sacred 
performance of the engagements entered into by the 
President in accepting office. Then, in closing, he 



y£ T _ 7 6] The Fall of Thiers. 263 

turned upon the Duke de Broglie and pierced him through 
and through with the arrows of his fine and mordant 
irony. 

The Duke de Broglie — in a passage of his speech not 
happily inspired — not content with blaming Thiers for 
his admiration of the radical party, went so far as to 
predict for him a disastrous end. Thiers replied by a 
more appropriate prophecy, which was realized two 
years later, on the day when the Duke de Broglie was 
named senator by his department.* " We have been 
told," said Thiers, " with a tenderness that has touched 
me deeply, that our fate is to be pitied, that we are going 
to become proteges. Whose protege's ? The proteges 
of radicalism ! A sad end has been predicted for me. I 
have, with eyes open, run this risk more than once in 
doing my duty, and I am not sure that I have done it 
for the last time. * * * I thank the orator for his com- 
passionate sentiments, and hope he will permit me to re- 
turn the compliment, and to tell him that I pity him 
too. He will no longer have a majority any more than 
we ; and he, too, will be a protege; he is to have a pro- 
tector whom the old Duke de Broglie would have spurned 
with disgust ; he will be the protege' of the Empire !" 

Great and prolonged excitement followed this speech. 
It made an immense impression. Many republicans 
began to count on victory, which could not have been 
doubtful, if it had been given to the side that had dis- 

* The duke owed his election to Bonapartist votes. 



264 Life of Thiers. [ r 8 73 . 

played the greatest good sense and eloquence. But all 
was pre-arranged. The Right had in the morning favored 
an order of the day, requesting the President to change 
his policy and ministry, and thus surrender to the Duke 
de Broglie, and put himself at the mercy of the Majority. 

According to the terms of the law of the Committee of 
Thirty, the morning session was brought to a close im- 
mediately after Thiers had finished his speech, and the 
continuation of the debate was postponed to the next 
session, which was fixed for two o'clock P.M., of the same 
day. 

M. Casimir Perier, Minister of the Interior, spoke for 
the new cabinet, and replied in proper and sometimes 
bitter terms to the ambiguous attacks of the coalition. 
" He (the Duke de Broglie), has declared that we are not 
to be trusted, saying that he cares nothing for our words, 
but only for our acts. And yet we have not done a thing, 
nor said a word !" There was no reply to the argument. 
The Majority did not think of the ministers. It was 
Thiers and the foundation of the Republic that was 
aimed at. 

, The debate was closed, and an order of the day, submit- 
ted by a legitimist deputy, was expressed in these terms : 
" The National Assembly, considering that the form of 
government is not being discussed ; that the Assembly is 
occupied with constitutional laws — presented by virtue of 
one of its decisions — which it ought to examine, regrets 
that the recent ministerial changes have not given con- 



^e t . 7 6.] * The Fall of Thiers. 265 

servative interests the satisfaction that they had the right 
to expect, and passes to the order of the day." 

The Majority dared not express its honest opinion. It 
was afraid to come boldly out from its equivocal position. 
Everything had been arranged to inveigle the timid, to 
aid and cover up ratting. Under the pretext of giving 
the vote an entirely unambiguous meaning, M. Target, a 
member of the Right-Centre, declared that in voting for 
the order of the day, a certain number of his colleagues 
and himself were resolved to accept the republican solu- 
tion, as furnished by the constitutional laws presented by 
the Government. Over a dozen deputies, former adher- 
ents of the Left-Centre and of the policy* of M. Casimir 
Perier, were thus able to pass over to the enemy without 
blushing. They were to work in the name of the Repub- 
lic, for the establishment of the Monarchy. 

We hasten over the incidents that followed. The 
order of the day was carried by a majority of sixteen. 
Thiers handed in his resignation in the form of a mes- 
sage, which was read at the opening of the evening ses- 
sion, at about nine o'clock. Less than three hours 
thereafter, M. Buffet, President of the Assembly, an- 
nounced that after an earnest resistance Marshal Mac- 
Mahon had been prevailed upon to accept the presidency 
of the Republic. 

Thus Thiers was overthrown ; but his ideas still dom- 

*M. Perier was a conservative republican who advocated the establish- 
ment of the conservative republic. 



266 Life of Thiers. * [,373. 

inated the situation, which was so strong, so imperious, 
that his enemies did not dare, in striking him down, to 
touch the Government de facto which he had set up.. 
Indeed his ideas were so exactly the expression of the 
situation, that his vanquishers were forced to follow his 
plans of republican reconstruction, thus adding to the 
spectacle of their weakness that of their inconsistency, 
and in some cases even of apostacy. The situation pre- 
sented the curious "spectacle of an Assembly profoundly 
royal and clerical, finishing, without knowing it and with- 
out wishing it, by establishing, with its own hands, the 
Republic!"* 

Thiers helped greatly to bring about this result. For, 
out of power as in power, he always kept his object in 
view. In his parlor, in the lobbies of the Assembly, in 
his travels, by his speeches, he never ceased to repeat, 
that the only government possible in France at that 
moment was the Republic, and that all good citizens 
should work for that end. He bent all the force of his 
incomparable mind to this task. 

After the Republic had been established and pro- 
vided with all its organs, f he did not repose. Before the 
general elections of February 20th, 1876, when the Repub- 
lic was no longer merely a legal fact but a constitutional 
right, he labored to give his friends good advice. This ad- 

* John Lemoinne, of the French Academy, in the Journal des Debals of 
May 28th, 1877. 

f The present constitution of France was adopted by the National Assem- 
bly, on February 25th, and July 16th, 1875. 



jet. 76.] The Fall of Thiers. 267 

vice was simple but necessary in the face of a power that 
was " uncertain, unfixed, enigmatic, in which you cannot 
find the idea that directs it," and he conjured them, "to 
work for a government that will be sincerely republican 
and for a Chamber that will be sincerely republican." * 

This enigmatic nature of the Government, so happily 
named by Thiers, showed itself in plain day on May 16th, 
1877, when Jules Simon, the Prime Minister, was dis- 
missed, Marshal MacMahon gained over and the Duke 
de Broglie once more got possession of the helm of 
state. Then was the Government, which Thiers had 
worked so long and earnestly to found, in a most critical 
condition. But he came to its assistance, and, though 
the hour of his death was drawing near, with the spirit 
of youth, he made a rampart for it of his popularity, of 
his talent and of his name. He fought for it from his 
very coffin, so to speak, for when he was surprised by 
death, on the eve of the elections of October 14th, 1877, 
he was giving the last touches to that famous letter to 
his constituents, which was published a few days after- 
wards by his executors, and which had such an immense 
influence on public opinion.f 

Thiers, therefore, may be looked upon as the founder 
of the Republic in France.:}: Individuals, whoever they 

* Speech delivered at Arcachon (Gironde) in October, 1875. 

f See Appendix D for this document. 

% Henri Martin, the celebrated French historian, touches upon this point 
in the following interesting comparison between Thiers and Washington. 
" With a different character and under different circumstances, M. Thiers 
is the principal founder of the durable republic in France, as is Washington 
in America. Neither of them, however, was born a republican. Washing- 
ton was — using the word in its best sense — an aristocrat. Under other cir- 



268 Life of Thiers. [1S73. 

may be, can not do every thing, whether it be a work of 
construction or destruction : but there would be no his- 
tory without powerful individuals. The French Republic 
would not have fallen on the 18th Brumaire,* if it had not 
been for Bonaparte ; it would not have risen so rapidly 
in the crisis of 1871, if it had not been for Thiers.' It is 
to this that he owes the maledictions of the royalists and 
the gratitude of their adversaries. Thiers — as is well 
known and as we are to show in the next chapter — was 
not only a politician ; he was a historian, an orator, a 
superior polemic, a writer of rare spirit, and an incom- 
parable talker. Like Voltaire, he was endowed with a 
universality of acquirements and aptitudes, and possessed 
also this great philosopher's activity, f All this will give 
him a distinctive place in the history of France, but, 
without any doubt, the greatest part of his glory and his 
most incontrovertible title to the remembrance of pos- 
terity, will ever be his having contributed more than any- 
body towards giving to the French Revolution the form 
of government that conformed most to its spirit. 

cumstances, he would have favored a constitutional monarchy like that of 
England, though in reality he is the founder of the first truly demorcratic 
republic that the world has seen. He did not so act through sentiment of 
coercion, but through reflective reason, which leads to resolutions which are 
never changed. This too, is the history of M. Thiers, with a slight differ- 
ence of course. M. Thiers had behind him the precedents of the Revolution ; 
he was the child of the Revolution ; he wished to be so, and never disowned 
his mother, even when he was entirely at variance with the advanced parties 
who wished to continue and complete the Revolution." Speech at Laon, 
August 27th, 1878. Journal des Dt!bats, August 30th, 1878. 

* November 9th, 1799. 

f " Like Voltaire, Thiers occupied himself with everything, was interested 
in everything, studied everything, vulgarized everything. The last time we 
saw him, was at the sea-shore, and while promenading, he gave us a fine 
lecture on astronomy, which we listened to with big eyes and ears." John 
Lemoinne in the Journal des De'bats, May 29th, 1878. 



CHAPTER X. 
THE H6TEL OF THE PLACE SAINT-GEORGES. 

Cousin, the philosopher, returning from dinner at 
Thiers's in October, 1847, sa id : " What does Thiers lack ; 
that incomparable ivy whom we have just left ? An oak 
to which to attach himself. So long as he has not this 
oak, every wind will agitate him." 

This mot — which has often been repeated, and more 
than once distorted — would be a calumny, if Cousin had 
wished to convey the idea, that Thiers lacked firm fixed 
principles in politics or in his life. We have seen what 
he was in politics. In his life he was — with scarcely a 
contradiction, even in the ardent years of his youth — ■ 
governed by a deep feeling of personal dignity, and ruled 
by a lofty philosophic belief, that the inconsistencies, 
weakness and even apostasies* of his masters could not 
shake. Who doubts to-day — to speak only of the politi- 
cal side of Thiers — that the oak, which Cousin could not 
see on leaving the dinner table in the dazzle and confusion 
of conversation, where his argumentative talent had per- 
haps suffered defeat, — who doubts that it was the spirit of 
modern France, the spirit of the French Revolution ? 

* Cousin was a liberal under the Restoration and the July Monarchy, but 
went over to the Empire. 



270 Life of Thiers. 

Twenty years later, another friend of Thiers, but of a 
different generation, was much better inspired, when, on 
also leaving the hotel of the Place Saint-Georges, he ex- 
claimed : " Thiers, he is living France ! " M. Prevost- 
Paradol had discovered the oak that sustained the incom- 
parable ivy. 

This mot of PreVost-Paradol suggests to us so import- 
ant a view of the character of Thiers, that we must stop 
a moment to consider it. Called forth by the admiration 
of a young friendship, by the warmth of an honest con- 
viction — as often happens in youth — it will be accepted 
and preserved by history. France does not possess among 
her illustrious contemporaries, a personality in which she 
is more clearly reflected with her virtues and her faults, 
when the faults are but the excesses of her virtues. By his 
aspirations and his ruling passions, by his intellectual 
activity and his practical sense, by his universal curiosity, 
by his hardihood, at one time spontaneous, at another 
profoundly considered, Thiers is beyond contradiction 
the most perfect representation of the epoch in which he 
lived. Prevost-Paradol, when he passed the judgment 
that we have recalled, was not thinking simply of the 
politician, but of the man. We will soon see, by pene- 
trating into the hotel of the Place Saint-Georges, that he 
was not mistaken, and that, as in politics, so in everything 
else, Thiers was indeed " the living France " that the 
world recognizes. We do not intend, however, to enter 
into any argument on this point, but allow the thought 



\ 4 

''Ill, 

1 1:; 




^ 



■so 



3 



Al 






The Place Saint- Georges. 271 

of PreVost-Paradol to find its illustration in the follow- 
ing loosely connected impressions and souvenirs. 

We have referred elsewhere to the note of the physi- 
cian who was present at the accouchement of Thiers.* 
The " turbulent " baby, full of vitality at the hour of 
his birth, became one of the most prodigiously active 
men of his century, among those who participated in 
public life. His childhood was full of the usual pranks 
of boys, and his youth was not exempt from the custom- 
ary frivolous distractions of that period of life. He had 
a taste for sporting, in art he was an amateur, and withal 
he was a man of the world. This all sprang from the 
exuberance of the forces of a rich nature, which had 
need of many and varied outlets, and which did not de- 
tract from the serious occupations of life nor from its 
necessary work. If we take Thiers at any point of his 
long life, we shall not find one single day voluntarily un 
occupied. In his portrait of Talleyrand, to wnom he 
denies the gift " of directing, as chief, the affairs of a great 
state," he bases his judgment on the fact that " in 
order to direct, a will, convictions and industry are neces- 
sary, but he had none of these things." f 

The contrary is true of Thiers. Though his opponents 
might deny that he had any convictions, they could not 
refuse him a strong will and indefatigable industry. If 
we consider Thiers in the latter years of his life, when 

* See page i, and Appendix B. 

f Consulate and Empire, Vol. VI, p. 118. 



-*/- 



Life of Thiers. 



his physical forces began to desert him, we will see that 
nothing could arrest the activity that his iron will im- 
posed upon his vigorous constitution. His body was 
governed by his mind. 

Every morning he arose between four and five o'clock, 
though, during the night, he had wakened his domestic, 
Louis, more than once, in order to secure paper and pen- 
cil with which to jot down an idea. " It is good that I 
am sixty," Louis used to say; "it is the saving of me. 
If monsieur were served by a young man, the young 
man would not last long." As soon as dressed, seating 
himself at his writing-desk, on a light ebony chair, before 
that small white or light green English paper, which has 
carried his autograph to the four corners of the world, 
armed with a big stubby goose-quill, its broad 'point 
plunged into a thick ink, always very black, — the illus- 
trious author would meditate an instant, and then, slowly 
write a whole page without an erasure and without stop- 
ping. When the bottom of the page was reached— while 
waiting for the large firm characters, with their thick 
ovals and chunky tails, to get dry — he would look over 
the sheet and complete the punctuation. Then the next 
page was filled without a halt, dried and punctuated, and 
so on to the end. This done, Thiers generally had by 
heart what he had just written, and did not review the 
whole. He once said : " Be assured that it is very diffi- 
cult to write only what you want to say ; and also that 
very few words are necessary to express a fine thought." 



The Place Saint- Georges. 273 

By seven or eight o'clock in the morning, the impor- 
tant literary work of the day was finished, for he let no 
day pass without writing something. Nulla dies sine linea. 
The rest of the time was given up to his beloved studies, 
as he said, to his correspondence, to researches which he 
made, pen in hand, with his secretaries, Messrs. Faure 
and Aude. Then he might be seen for entire hours 
surrounded by immense maps or collections of foreign 
books, heaped upon two little tables between which he 
worked, and filled with book-marks and large double sheets 
replete with pencil and ink notes. 

These were doubtless the happiest hours of the day, 
even at the period of his supreme power, especially, per- 
chance, when public affairs permitted him to enjoy them. 
Public life was disagreeable to him only in so far as it 
disarranged him. After his fall from power, on May 24th, 
1873, the reconstruction of his hotel in the Place Saint- 
Georges not being completed,* and the hotel Bagration, 
which he entered soon afterwards, not having been found, 
he took possession of the second floor — the entresol — of 
the house on the Boulevard Malesherbes, on the corner 
next to the Church of St. Augustine, where he was 
troubled by the sun, the dust and the noise. He was 
dissatisfied with the situation. " How does the Presi- 
dent find his new quarters?" said a visitor one day. 
"Very good, except that the heat and the clatter of the 

* Thiers's hdtel was destroyed by the Commune and rebuilt by the Gov- 
ernment. 



274 Life of Thiers. 

street hinders him from working as he would like to," 
was the reply of a member of the family. This dis- 
pleased him more than the loss of the presidency. He 
regretted in the palace of the Elysee only what he did 
not find in his entresol. Happily for him, he soon moved 
and took possession of the hotel Bagration. There, the 
same visitor, a week later, found him in a room encum- 
bered with herbs, plants, lignites, etc., which he had 
classified, and labeled as a Jussieu might have done. 
The next day perhaps the indefatigable old man would 
go to the Observatory to contemplate the heavens with 
Le Verrier.* 

Thiers was accustomed to shave himself about eight 
o'clock. It was his first recreation, a souvenir of the 
recess which at the same hour he had enjoyed when a 
boy at the Lycee of Marseilles ! He was fortunate who 
could enter at this moment, for Thiers was now to 
be found loquacious, witty and affable. Mounted on a 
little stool before the glass near the window, he would 
pass the razor over his chin by short systematic move- 
ments, stopping from time to time to listen to the recital 
of this or that piece of city gossip. Each story called 
forth some pointed comments, which were accompanied 
and enlivened by little expressive gestures, whose effect 
was increased by the lathered face. In a short time 
business claimed its rights and the recreation was at an 

* Le Verrier — who was a great friend of Thiers — followed him in three 
weeks to the tomb, dying on September 23d, 1877. 



The Place Saint- Georges. 2jS 

end. Dressed from head to foot at the hour when even 
the soberest people have not yet laid off their robe de 
chambre, Thiers was pacing his garden in a broad-brimmed 
hat, sack coat, patent-leather pumps and black over- 
gaiters, all ready to receive morning visitors or to go out 
if business called him. 

We have forgotten the frugal morning meal of eggs, 
cold meat and stewed fruit, which scarcely interrupted 
the work in progress, and, at noon, the breakfast — the 
dejeuner de famille — copious but simple, when Thiers 
found at the table Mme. Thiers, her sister, Mile. Dosne, 
and from time to time some visitors. 

Thiers's way of sleeping has often been spoken of. A 
little hair mattress, as hard as the famous bed of the 
Emperor Nicholas ; a pillow not much larger than the 
two hands; a comforter of red, quilted silk; over his 
feet, a fur robe. His afternoon nap — very rarely forgot- 
ten — was taken on the same bed. When he began to feel 
sleepy, he would close the window blinds, spread out a 
handkerchief for his head, and continue to chat with the 
visitor who happened to be present. He would listen to 
the conversation, and answer questions, until regular 
respirations showed that he was asleep, when he was left 
alone until he called. But he always gave orders to enter 
and waken him, if anything of pressing importance de- 
manded his attention. 

Thiers fully appreciated the value of time. In his old 
age he was annoyed less by infirmities themselves than by 



276 Life of Thiers. 

the derangements that they made in his hours of work. 
These infirmities, however, had respected the essential 
parts of his nature. In spite of age, Thiers's eyes were 
excellent, his hearing quite delicate, his brain active and 
its productive powers still remarkable. But sometimes 
he had slight troubles with his lungs, which occasioned 
some pain and anxiety. 

After the crisis of May 16th, 1877, Thiers was afflicted 
with bleeding at the nose and with faintness. Doctor 
Barthe feared the return of the troubles. Thiers dis- 
cussed with him the remedies that he should take, which, 
in fact, were not so much medicines as the observance of 
a few simple hygienic laws, a course, by the way, which 
he followed throughout his whole life. " How do you 
stand so much work?" he was asked one day. " Because 
I am sober," was the reply. 

But we must leave these details, however interesting 
they may appear to those who — not without reason per- 
haps — believe that nothing is immaterial in the life of 
illustrious men. Thiers's day is not finished. We have 
not yet arrived at his dinner hour, when he almost always 
had some guests ; we have not followed him to the 
Chamber, to the Council. But we must make selections 
from this mass of illustrative data. We hasten to view 
him in a position where we have not yet seen him, and 
where his personality shines in most brilliant colors, at 
every period of his life — in his salon, in the midst of his 
friends and visitors. 



The Place Saint- Georges. 277 

Lamartine, in his Souvenirs and Portraits has related 
his first interview with Thiers, which took place, a few 
months before the Revolution of July, in a parlor of the 
restaurateur V£ry of the Palais-Royal, and he has there 
given the portrait of his guest, who was then already 
celebrated. Certain traits have a fidelity of touch not 
often found in the imaginative style of the historian of 
the Girondists, and it will not be out of place to recall a 
few of them. 

After having painted the external man, and spoken of 
his face with its " intellectual beauty triumphing over 
its lineaments, and forcing a rebellious body to express 
mental grandeur," he adds: "His mind was, like his 
body, upright, robust and active. Perhaps, being a man of 
the south, he over-estimated a little his powers. Modesty 
is a northern virtue, or a fruit of refined education. He 
spoke first, he spoke last, he paid little attention to re- 
plies ; but he spoke with a correctness, with a boldness 
and with a wealth of ideas which caused the volubility 
of his lips to be excused. It was plain that he had been 
accustomed from an early age to be listened to by his 
companions. But his conversation — perfectly familiar and 
fitted for the time and place — -was neither labored nor 
eloquent. It was the mind and the heart that flowed 
forth." 

Then — passing on to a later period, when his young 
and new friend had become one of the masters of the 
tribune — in a rapid review, where he attempts to charac- 



278 Life of Thiers. 

terize, by a few expressive words, the contemporary ora- 
tors, Royer-Collard, Dupin, Odilon Barrot, etc., arrived 
at Thiers, he can find no other word to paint him but 
that of " prodigy." " Yes, the prodigy," cries Lamar- 
tine, "for it is a prodigy that has endowed him with 
everything, even his voice and gestures, or rather he dis- 
penses with voice and gesture through the mere force of 
talent. For whole hours at a time, and hours that do 
not drag, he will pour out his thoughts, common sense 
and sometimes sophisms, without ever exhausting the in- 
terest of his audience or his own resources. He does not 
strike great blows, but he strikes a multitude of little 
ones, with which he breaks ministries, majorities and 
thrones. He has not the might of soul of Mirabeau, 
but he has his power in detail ; he takes Mirabeau's club 
into the tribune and makes arrows of it. He shoots 
them into Assemblies to the right and to the left. On 
one is written argument, on another sarcasm ; on this 
one grace, on that one passion. It is a shower from 
which there is no escape. As for myself, who often op- 
posed his policy, it was impossible for me not to admire 
the pre-eminent artist." 

These last traits of Thiers's nature must be borne in 
mind, if we would form a correct idea of Thiers in a 
salon, especially in his earlier and the first part of his 
maturer years. It was indeed a shower, as Lamartine 
has well said ; a brilliant shower of ideas, colored with 
all the magic tints of the rainbow, delicately shaded, 



The Place Saint- Georges. 279 

changing with the topic, the surroundings, the moment. 
On this point there is abundant testimony. 

We are in the year 1840, or thereabouts. Mme. de 
Girardin in her Parisian Letters* did not spare the minister 
whom she disliked. It seems that Thiers had called her 
in a salon a blue-stocking full of holes. " M. Thiers," 
she said, " is badly brought up, badly made, and lowly 
born." " Badly made," responded Thiers quickly ; " how 
does she know it ? " 

In this same sprightly series of letters, Mme. de Gir- 
ardin tells, good naturedly, at least one anecdote of 
Thiers worth quoting. It shows the quickness and humor 
of his mind. " He met the other day," says Mme. de 
Girardin, " an Academician who, though not old, was 
nevertheless somewhat advanced in years. • How young 
you look,' said Thiers; 'what's this for?' 'Why, noth- 
ing.' 'None of that; we never rejuvenate without an 
object.' " f 

He possessed the art, as we have just seen, of making 
repartees, which sometimes, it must be admitted, were 
rather cruel. Doctor Veron, $ in 1840, had placed the 
columns of the Constitntionnel at the disposal of the 

* Mme. de Girardin, (1804-1855), had made a literary reputation as Del- 
phine Gay, before her marriage with the well-known journalist, M. Emile 
Girardin, who still (1878) follows his profession, being editor-in-chief of La 
Liberty. Mme. de Girardin wrote the celebrated Patisian Letters under 
the nom de plume of the Vicomte de Launay. 

■j- Lettres Parisiennes, Vol. IV, p. 26. 

% Veron, (1798-1867), a famous journalist during the July Monarchy and 
February Republic, though not very highly respected. See the last foot note 
on page Si. 



280 Life of Tuiers. 

minister, and asked that in return he be provided with a 
good office which would give him " respectability." " An 
office that will give you respectability ? " said Thiers. 
"Why, my dear sir, you ask me to do an impossibility." 

Thiers's family, as we have before remarked, was in a 
lowly condition at the time of his birth. One day some 
one was talking before him about the old nobility and 
the vanity of the inheritors of a great name. " I do 
not think that it is wrong to turn up one's nose at the 
old nobility," he said, with a sly look, " though I am 
myself sprung from the old commonalty, and I am none 
the prouder for that." 

Thiers was always ready to resent any slur cast at the 
middle classes — the bourgeoisie — from which he sprang. 

Th^ophile Silvestre, the art critic and litterateur, 
though not an admirer of Thiers as a politician or writer, 
was very desirous of seeing his curiosities and objects of 
art. The opportunity was given him, and on leaving 
Thiers's hotel, he expressed himself dissatisfied at finding 
so fine a collection marred by what he considered several 
inferior objects of art. "Nest of a bourgeois" he said on 
daparting, " I must refuse you the laurel wreath, but I 
will award you a lot of old women's nightcaps."* The mot 
was repeated to Thiers. " After all," he said, " M. Theo- 
phile Silvestre is right. Bourgeois I was born, bourgeois I 
will live, and bourgeois I wish to die.' And then, assum- 

*" Nid d'un bourgeois. Je lui refuse la branch de laurier, mais je lui 
decernerai cent bonnets de coton." 



The Place Saint- Georges. 281 

ing the oratorical air of the tribune, he continued : 
" What have the poets and critics of to-day against the 
bourgeoisie ? What would become of the modern world 
without them ? As early as the time of Louis XIV they 
excelled the nobility. Moliere, Bossuet, Corneille, La 
Fontaine, Boileau, were bourgeois. So was Lebrun, 
Eustache Lesueur, Poussin, Puget, Voltaire, Diderot, 
Vanloo, Watteau and Rousseau. And from what class 
to-day does France draw her orators, her engineers, 
her artists, her generals, and her masters in everything? 
From the bourgeoisie. And what is it that the reformers 
and Utopists wish to make of the people? Princes? 
No. Nobles ? No. Bourgeois ? Yes, and even that is 
now found a very difficult thing." 

The Faubourg Saint-Germain, formerly the most aris- 
tocratic portion of Paris, was long the pitiless enemy of 
Thiers, because of his low birth. From 1830 to 1840 the* 
press of the legitimist party delighted to twit Thiers for 
his plebian origin and rustic manners. The Mode had heard 
that Thiers at table had cut bread with a knife instead of 
breaking it, and this little fault was quickly seized upon 
and cast up in the face of the new statesman. Some 
great ladies sent him a red morocco case containing six 
little wooden-handled knives worth two or three cents a 
piece, with this inscription printed in gilt letters on the 
lid of the case: "To M. Thiers for his state dinners."* 

* At a later date — when Thiers had won a European reputation — this little 
case of knives figured in a charity lottery, gotten up by the late Countess 
Duchatel, the noble philanthropist. 



282 Life of Thiers. 

The following estimate of Thiers — made at about this 
same period' by an Englishman — is of a piece — in so far 
as it touches upon personal qualities — with the opinions 
held concerning him by the French aristocracy : 

" September 10th, 1833. — Dined on Friday with Talleyrand, a great din- 
ner to M. Thiers, the French Minister of Commerce, a little man, about as 
tall as Shiel,* and as mean and vulgar-looking, wearing spectacles, and with 
a squeaking voice. He was editor of the National ; an able writer, and one 
of the principal instigators of the Revolution of July. It is said that he is a 
man of great ability and a good speaker, more in the familiar English than 
the bombastical French style. Talleyrand has a high opinion of him. He 
wrote a history of the Revolution, which he now regrets ; it is well done, but 
the doctrine of fatalism he puts forth in it he thinks calculated to injure his 
reputation as a statesman, f 

Thiers often indulged in punning. M. E. Pascal, whom 
he had made Prefect at Nantes, at Lyons, and afterwards 
Councilor of State, abandoned him after his fall on May 
24th, 1873, and became one of the most zealous of his 
enemies. Such desertions sometimes occur in politics. 
M. Pascal had been a mediocre journalist; he was am- 
bitious, and vainer than he was ambitious. Thiers one 
day in private, laughing at M. Pascal's bragging spirit, 
compared his talents to those of the village charlatan, 
who, to attract attention, sticks feathers in his hat. " He 
never knew how to use his quill," said Thiers, " and now 
he has wound up by using it for a feather." % 

His puns were sometimes very pointed in their mean- 

*Right Hon. Richard Llalor Shiel, (1793-1851), lawyer, dramatist and 
eloquent Irish agitator ; entered the House of Commons in 1829; and was 
British minister at Florence at the time of his death. 

f Greville Memoirs, Vol. II, p. 196, (Am. Edition). Greville — whose 
memoirs are only published in part — was Clerk of the Council for about 
forty years. He died in January, 1865. 

\ " II n' a jamais su se servir de sa plume, et il a fini par en faire un 
J>lumet." 



The Place Saint- Georges. 28 



o 



ing. Though they occasioned a laugh they also awakened 
a thought. He more than once by their aid, impressed 
upon the public a fact that it was important the public 
should know. For example, during the sittings of the 
Committee of Thirty,* Thiers — after his fall, disgusted 
at the petty vexations and the base double dealing of its 
members — wished to express his real feelings without 
creating an explosion. He had recourse to a lapsus Ungues. 
" I was shut up," he said to the committee, " in the depths 
of the Palace of Penitence— of the Presidence I mean to 
say."f The mot was taken up in the evening by all the 
newspapers, and the desired effect was produced. 

On another occasion, it was a gay sally bursting out in 
a most original and unexpected form. In 1850, Thiers 
went to visit Louis-Philippe at Claremont. After the in- 
terview, while walking along the terrace of the chateau, 
he noticed the old parrot of Madame Adelaide, Louis- 
Philippe's sister, the same one that hung formerly in the 
windows of the princess at Neuilly, near enough to the 
council chamber to be heard by Thiers when he was 
minister. " Ah, there you are my poor poll," he said on 
perceiving the parrot, " there you are again. Unlike us 
you still have your say. You remember, we were min- 
isters together?" And he laughed at this souvenir of a 
past that he then however had many reasons to regret. 

Thiers was the author of many delicate sentiments that 

* See Chapter IX. 

f "J'etais enferme dans les profondeurs du palais de la Penitence — de 
la Presidence veux-je dire." 



284 Life of Thiers. 

sank deep into the human heart. His mind produced 
wise maxims as well as witty sallies. Count Enzenberg, 
who at one time represented Hesse at Paris, and who was 
an indefatigable collector of autographs, gave his album 
to Prince Bismarck one day, with the request that he 
write therein a sentiment. Bismarck consented after 
some hesitation. The page on which he was to write, 
already held two sentiments. The first, by Guizot, was 
as follows : 

" In my long life I have learnt two wise rules : the first, 
to pardon much ; the second, to never forget." 

Thiers had written under this : 

" A little forgetfulness will not hurt the sincerity of 
the pardon." 

Bismarck added : 

" For my part, I have learnt to forget much and to ask 
to be pardoned much." 

Thiers's sentiment is at the same time a thrust at 
Guizot, and a moral maxim which not politicians alone 
might do well to heed. 

The following charming and characteristic witticism 
deserves to be mentioned. While President, Thiers 
visited one day the War Department. Noticing a pair 
of spectacles on the floor he picked them up, saying: 
" Let us see if they are as good as the ones I use." A 
letter was handed him — apparently on purpose — which 
contained a pompous eulogy of his Government. Thiers, 1 
hastily throwing down the spectacles, said : " They are no 



The Place Saint- Georges. 285 

better than my own ; they magnify objects too much." 

Some times his allusions were very caustic. He was 
undoubtedly thinking of MacMahon, his successor, when 
he said one day: " Don't despise small things nor small 
men. A mite is a wonder of the lowest degree of organic 
beings." And he added with a smile : " An ant, provid- 
ing for winter, might teach a marshal of France a lesson, 
who is not ready on the day of battle." MacMahon 
was not prepared at the battle of Worth in the war of 
1870-71, and consequently suffered defeat. 

In private he was more direct in his allusions to the 
Marshal-President, though it should be said that his 
arrows were shot without premeditation. His words were 
suggested by the occasion. 

Thiers had a great liking for physical sports, and often 
talked aboutiiis skill as a hunter and an equestrian. A 
short time before his death, during the crisis of May 16th, 
1877, somebody spoke to him of MacMahon. "I knew 
his brother very well," he said ; " we have hunted to- 
gether. He was killed by falling from his horse." And 
he added laughingly : " You see, my dear fellow, in 
horsemanship as in politics, it is necessary to sit well in 
the saddle and to hold a good rein." These words are a 
keen criticism of the scheme of May 16th. The Duke 
de Broglie was not well seated in his saddle, and of 
course did not hold a good rein : a fall was, therefore, in- 
evitable. 

The salon of the Place Saint-Georges, which comprised 



286 Life of Thiers. 

several rooms, a study and a library, suggested the idea 
of a man of the nineteenth century, of a civilization 
rich, elegant and perfect. 

In the antechamber of the study, in the middle of the 
room, rose the bronze statue of the Perseus of Benvenuto 
Cellini, a reduction, but nevertheless superb, which was 
made at Florence, by M. Maneglia, to replace another re- 
duction which had perished in the flames of the Tuileries 
during the Commune. Not far from the Perseus was the 
Apollo, the Lizard-killer, and the Satyr playing on a flute, 
which Thiers called one day, before M. Charles Blanc,* 
" the standard of beauty." And scattered about the 
room, were other pieces of art that we must pass over in 
silence because of their number. The door of his study 
was guarded by two antiques, marble reductions : an 
Apollo and the Satyr of Praxiteles, executed by Mercie% 

In the large room, over the mantelpiece, was a fresco of 
The Last Judgment of Michel Angelo, copied in water 
colors by Numa Boucoyran, and scattered about were 
other exquisite copies of the principal masterpieces, that 
charmed the distinguished amateur in his travels. The 
Sistine Madonna, for which he made the journey to 
Dresden ; the Assumption of Titian, from the Academy 
of Venice ; the St. Cecilia of Bologna, the Communion of 
St. Jerome, praised by Nicolas Poussin as one of the 

Charles Blanc (1813 — ), elder brother of Louis Blanc, acquired a great 
reputation as an art critic and writer on art, and was made in 1878 professor 
of Esthetics and the History of Art at the College of France. 



The Place Saint- Georges. 287 

three most beautiful pictures of Rome ; the frescoes of 
Raphael from the Vatican : the Dispute of the Holy Sac- 
rament, the School of Athens, the Parnassus, the Transfig- 
uration, the Sibyls, etc. To the right and left of the 
Last Judgment rose on pedestals the Farnese Hercules 
and the Slave of Michel Angelo, and, on either side of 
these, in the corners, were the sculptures from the tomb 
of the Medicis, Day and Night, Dawn and Dusk. " Those 
four figures," says Charles Blanc, " so proud and so sad, 
so beautiful and so formidable in their stern elegance, 
which wear an anxious look on the mausoleums, as if the 
troubles of life, lasting even in death, were still agitating, 
from the depths of the tomb, the heroes buried there." 

There were also precious bronzes, nearly all of the Re- 
naissance, and of exceptional beauty. In the study were 
an antique Mime, an equestrian statue, modeled perhaps 
by Leonardo da Vinci himself, a bust of Lorenzo Ghi- 
berti, a Florentine Venus, a little Satyr scratching his 
leg and holding a cow-herd's horn, an antique bust of Ana- 
creon, a child and a serpent, a child and a goose, the 
Marine Venus, in high relief and a delicious bronze of the 
Mercury of Buda, worthy the great masters. There stood 
in the middle of the room on a pedestal the equestrian 
statue of Colleone — the only exact copy — which Thiers 
was permitted to have made on the spot at Venice. 

It was in the midst of these wonders of art — of which 
we have here presented but an epitome — that Thiers was 
accustomed to receive his friends, his visitors, his guests, 



288 Life of Thiers. 

and, in a conversation by turns courteous, light and earn- 
est, which riveted attention, to give vent, in a continu- 
ous and dazzling flow, to the spontaneous inspirations of 
his rare mind. 

Thiers, before his marriage with Mile. Dosne, in the 
earlier years of the July Monarchy, was a great frequenter 
of the salons and Paris society, particularly in those cir- 
cles where politics and the esprit francais predominated. 
When he became lord of the hotel of the Place Saint- 
Georges, and to the prestige of his popularity added 
that of great fortune and influence, he loved to receive 
the intellectual elite of his own and foreign countries. 
None were excluded of those who occupied a place 
in the world of letters, of art, of science, of politics, 
of war, of industry, of commerce. Young talent, those 
even who as yet inspired only hopes, was brought face to 
face with names already celebrated. Sometimes the 
most obscure journalists were here able to stand on the 
same footing with the distinguished ambassadors and 
ministers of Europe, the Granvilles, the Clarendons, the 
Gladstones, the Bismarcks, and the Gortchakoffs, all 
those who, from 1833 to 1877, were famous in France in 
the course of three generations. 

Sainte-Beuve has written an extremely interesting work, 
entitled Chateaubriand and his Group, in which he has 
arranged about the principal figure, the friends and famil- 
iars of the illustrious author. A similar work for Thiers, 
if composed by as able a hand, would be of superior 



The Place Saint- Georges. 289 

interest of itself and valuable for the history of the esprit 
francais in the nineteenth century. 

The first place in the group that we have imagined, 
would belong to the friends of his youth and the com- 
panions of his early political career. There would be seen, 
in the first place, Mignet,the eminent historian, and a writer 
remarkable for the eloquent vigor and elegant purity of 
his style ; Charles de Remusat, a man of parts and of a 
mental acuteness that has not been surpassed ; Cousin, 
not a sound philosopher, but a writer of the first order, 
an incomparable talker, sometimes unjust in his estimates, 
often paradoxical, but always brilliant ; Barthelemy-Saint- 
Hilaire, a real philosopher in respect to science, firmness 
of principles and elevation of character ; Dufaure, the 
statesman, distinguished for the logic and flexibility of his 
mind ; and others like M. Calmon,* and Casimir Perier, son 
of the former Premier under Louis-Philippe, who form, 
as it were, the connecting link between the first and the 
second generation, which begins about 1840, and which, 
preserving a few survivors of the first, still lingers to-day. 

In this new group should be placed Grevy, Henri Mar- 
tin, the accomplished historian, Jules Favre, Jules Simon, 
Arago, the astronomer, separated a little from Thiers 
politically, but always united by the common tie of cul- 
ture and intellectual sympathy ; Le Verrier, the famous 



* Calmon,(i8i5 — ), advocate, and liberal politician ; deputy in 1846 ; retired 
from public life on the advent of the Empire, and devoted himself to litera- 
ture ; member of the Academy of Moral and Political Sciences, in 187-2- 
deputy in 1874 ; and now (1878) life-senator. 



290 Life of Thiers. 

astronomer, an intractable character, whom Thiers seems 
to have conquered ; Laboulaye, the friend of America, 
and director of the College of France ; Bersot of the 
Journal des De'bats ; and, at a little later period, Prevost- 
Paradol, Caro of the French Academy and Professor of 
Philosophy at the Sorbonne, Janet of the Sorbonne, 
and About, the voluminous writer, all men of distin- 
guished talents; and that galaxy, more or less brilliant, 
of journalists, novelists and of young historians, who have 
not yet reached their zenith. 

It is indeed difficult to imagine the topics of discussion, 
and the interest of the conversation among such men. 
All the faculties of the mind appeared on this intellectual 
theatre, enriched with so many wonders of art, where 
everything suggested thought and excited effort. As 
Thiers, according to Prevost^Paradol, was living France, 
so his salon was a brilliant reflection of that France. In 
it was a continual exchange of ideas, souvenirs, anecdotes, 
stories, where ruled incontestably the spirit of the France 
of the nineteenth century ; that spirit, free from preju- 
dices, tolerant, recognizing no other sovereign, no other 
royalty than that of the mind, exalting only reason, 
offspring of Descartes and Voltaire, loving truth and lib- 
erty, like Thiers himself, more or less sincerely according 
to the varying characteristics of persons, but, like him, 
accepting no other rule of life than that imposed by 
truth and liberty. 

It can excite envy in nobody's breast, if we endeavor 



The Place Saint- Georges. 291 

to give an idea of the conversational lustre of Thiers's 
salon, and point out the large share of wit and learning 
that emanated there from the distinguished host himself. 
The mots and anecdotes that we have already recounted, 
present the less important side of the picture. They are 
only the small coin that tells of the immense treasures 
within. To grasp the whole intellectual grandeur of the 
spirit that pervaded Thiers's salon, to pierce beneath the 
petty details of daily talk, which, if we except the form, 
is about the same everywhere, in the Faubourg Saint- 
Germain as in the Faubourg Saint-Honore, at New York 
as at Paris, — to see into the depths of the soul of the 
hotel of the Place Saint-Georges, we have only to read a 
few chosen pages from the writings of the historian, the 
journalist and the art critic. Thiers, by his abandon, his 
unstudied ease of manner, by his naturalness, by the free- 
dom of his style, carried sometimes even to carelessness, 
— is very often, with his pen in his hand, just as he was 
when standing in his parlors in the midst of an attentive 
circle, or seated at a tete-a-tete with some official or privi- 
leged personage. It is only necessary to add the accent, 
the gesture and the play of the features. And the pic- 
ture may be rendered still more realistic, by reading the 
fragments of the conversations scattered here and there, 
and published by some of his auditors whose reports can 
be depended upon, for Thiers was one of those whose 
thought once spoken, especially in private, was engraved 
on the memory in lines that are never effaced. 



292 Life of Thiers. 

We wish, in order to give more completeness to the 
sketch, to present a few of the opinions emanating from 
the salon of the Place Saint-Georges and inspired in the 
host by the objects that surrounded him, and with 
which he was, so to speak, penetrated ; for it was amid 
his art treasures that Thiers thought and wrote. We 
will thus view Thiers in a light in which he is not generally 
regarded, but in which he must be seen to be thoroughly 
comprehended. Thiers was an art critic as well as an 
amateur of the first order, and his judgments, like his 
preferences, have a value. 

M. Charles Blanc, who frequented the salon of the 
Place Saint-Georges, gives a very exact idea of its char- 
acter by recalling some of Thiers's printed criticisms, 
and some of the conversations had with him. He cites 
the following description of David's picture of the Death 
of Socrates, and of Delacroix's Dante and Virgil in Hell, 
criticisms written in Thiers's younger days for the Con- 
stitntionnel : 

" Socrates in his prison, seated on a bed, points to the 
heavens, which indicates the nature of his conversation ; 
he receives the cup, which recalls his condemnation; he 
moves to drink off its contents, which announces his 
philosophic absorption and his sublime indifference to 
death. The epic poet chooses what aids his narration, 
the tragic poet what pertains to the drama, the painter 
what can become visible." 

In speaking of Delacroix, he said : 



The Place Saint- Georges. 293 

" No picture, it seems to us, reveals more clearly the 
future of a great painter, than that of M. Delacroix rep- 
resenting Dante and Virgil in Hell. It displays great talent 
and is full of promise. Here is found the selfishness and 
despair of hell. In this subject, bordering in fact upon ex- 
aggeration, there is, however, a severity of taste and a local 
fitness that exalt the design, which some stern but poor 
judges might reproach with a lack of nobility. The 
pencil is large and firm ; the color vigorous, though a 
little harsh. The author sketches his figures, groups 
them and bends them at his will, with the boldness of 
Michel Angelo and the fertility of Rubens. I know 
not what souvenirs of great artists seize me when I look 
on this picture. I find there that wild, burning but 
natural power which produces enthusiasm without effort." 
The critic is found to hold the same opinions, ex- 
pressed with the same vivacity, more than fifty years 
afterwards. Michel Angelo was Thiers's great admiration. 
One day, when on the point of departing for Athens, 
M. Charles Blanc went to bid Thiers good-by, and receive 
his commissions, the latter said to him, as if respond- 
ing to a remark which M. Blanc was about to utter: 
" Yes, without doubt, yes, the Pantheon has the first 
prize, of course ; but let us talk about the second prize 
and the honorable mention." He thus characterized hie 
personal preference, and the independence of his admira- 
tion. On another occasion, when the same person said 
to Thiers that he had a decided preference for the Renais- 



294 Life of Thiers. 

sance, which was indeed true, Thiers interrupted him 
abruptly to show him the Apollo, the Lizard-killer, and 
the Satyr playing on a flute. "There is the standard of 
the beautiful," he said ; " it should always be within sight. 
Believe me, that I have not ventured on this ocean of in- 
numerable varieties of human art, without knowing the 
safe spots to cast anchor." 

At another time, M. Blanc and Thiers were looking at 
one of those lacquered boxes, bright with aventurine, 
and filled with satin neck-handkerchiefs, Chinese crape, 
furs of Thibetan goats, and Liliputian slippers, when M. 
Blanc brought a smile to Thiers's face by remarking: 
" May we not believe that a Mongol Jupiter, wishing to 
seduce the Danaes of Nankin, caused this rain of gold 
to fall into their wardrobes?" " The god of the arts," 
replied Thiers, " has not disinherited any part of the 
world. Each people has attained in its way a perfec- 
tion that the others have not reached. This one has 
a genius for form, that one for color and decoration. 
Some share the greatness of conceptions, others the 
beauty of materials. In those latitudes where humanity, 
left to itself, could not have created for itself the enjoy- 
ments and the consolations of art, nature has kindly 
come to the aid of man by furnishing him wonderful 
substances, splendid colors, materials which await and 
provoke the genius of the workman." 

" So speaking," says M. Blanc, " M. Thiers unrolled 
before us some of those very long silk strips, on which 



The Place Saint- Georges. 295 

the Chinese artists had represented fantastic designs in 
the richest colors, and, at every instant, the most piquant 
and serious reflections were suggested to the mind of the 
illustrious amateur, which showed that art was for him 
what it really is, the splendid form of the idea, and that 
he was better qualified than anybody else to inter- 
pret it." 

Among the drawings in Thiers's collection is one of 
extreme beauty from the pen of Leonardo da Vinci, 
where are delineated with incomparable skill and vigor, 
the figures of a number of knights on horseback, fighting 
with live skeletons on foot. The latter have the best of 
the contest ; they unhorse the knights, strike horror into 
them, and kill them with their lances. This very precious 
sketch, is supposed to have been a study made by Leo- 
nardo for the celebrated cartoon, which he was going to 
paint in competition with Michel Angelo, for the ducal 
palace at Florence. Thiers saw in it the embodiment of 
a thought of Macchiavelli, that infantry would in the end 
supersede cavalry, that is to say, that nobility would be 
one day vanquished by the people. " They are strug- 
gling, those starved wretches," said Thiers, " to infuse a 
little divine justice into human institutions." 

To those who are familiar with art questions in France, 
it is very easy to see, by the nature of these various 
opinions, that Thiers was of no party. He has been ac- 
cused of being classic. He was indeed classic, by his 
style and by his preference for the language of the 



296 Life of Thiers. 

seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. He it was who 
wrote, apropos of M. de Fontanes's * Eulogy on Washing- 
ton, prepared at the request of the first Consul : "M. de Fon- 
tanes, a pure and brilliant writer, the last who has employed 
that French language, formerly so perfect, but buried to- 
day with the eighteenth century in the abyss of the past."f 
This preference did not arise wholly from what he called 
his " fanaticism for simplicity," but because the language 
that he regretted, and which, by the way, is not com- 
pletely lost, was more lively, more limpid, and stronger 
than that which, under the influence of Chateaubriand 
and his school, had replaced it. But the independence 
of his judgments was not fettered by his preferences. 
For him, the classic idea was never confined within the 
narrow limits, where a certain school of the time of his 
youth endeavored to imprison it. Thiers had a profound 
liking for the poetry of Lamartine. His predilection in 
art was in general for original minds, proud and indepen- 
dent geniuses, as is shown by his passion for Michel 
Angelo and his bold opinion of Delacroix. In this respect 
also Thiers was with his time. 

Along with this independent spirit, which he carried 
not only into art — as we have already seen in his political 
history — -he was furthermore possessed of that feeling so 



* Marquis de Fontanes, (1 757-1821), the French poet and orator ; member 
of the Academy; deputy and senator under the first Empire ; Grand-Master 
of the University of France ; and member of the Chamber of Peers under 
the Restoration. 

\ Consulate and Empire, Vol. I., p. 218. 



The Place Saint- Georges. 297 

powerful in the society of to-day, ambition, the desire to 
rise. Thiers's mother early discovered this characteristic 
in her son. She said to Mignet when he was very 
young : " Adolphe will never go afoot. He will catch on 
behind the wagon, then he will work forward on to the 
seat, throw out the driver, and seize the reins himself." 
Thiers's after life did indeed realize the prediction in so 
far as it concerned his ambitious spirit. His History of 
the French Revolution was the first and grandest -result of 
an honest and noble ambition. But he did not mount 
upon the seat for the sole purpose of rising and seizing 
the reins of power. He guided honorably the chariot 
of state through more than one danger, struggled more 
than once to keep it on the broad highway, and finally 
raised it up again after its fall. 

All Thiers's gifts, whether of mind or character, were 
ever kept most actively employed, as we have already 
seen, through the great value that their possessor placed 
on time, and because of his insatiable curiosity. He had 
traversed all the paths of human activity, and the entire 
circle of knowledge. And he was not satisfied with a 
general glance : in everything he had a passion for de- 
tails. " How did you know all about the battle of Wag- 
ram ? " an old officer of Napoleon said to him one day. 
"I was there, but I saw nothing of all this." If many 
errors are found in his history, it is because authors are 
human. His enemies, a long time ago, pictured him as 
" impressing everybody into his service, demanding of 



298 Life of Thiers. 

everybody information for his History of the French 
Revolution, for, in all his works, this is his way of proceed- 
ing, by forced conversations and by the aid of other 
people's memories. He is more the mendicant friar, 
than the Benedictine monk of history." Another said 
very wittily, but not more unjustly: " He will go right 
up to Soult and tell him boldly, that he did not leave 
Genoa by the Gate of France but by that of Italy ; and 
if Soult were wounded at the battle of Salamanca, he will 
sustain, amidst the applause of the Chamber, that it was 
in the left leg and not in the right, as Soult had always 
supposed, and he will prove it to him so clearly, that the 
old general, to satisfy himself, will involuntarily put his 
finger in the cavity of the wound." 

The criticism here proves the fact that is questioned. 
The passion for details which is necessary in history and 
in life, in public as in private life, and which may also be 
regarded as a measure of activity, was found developed 
to the highest degree in Thiers. 

Old age did not change him in this particular ; his 
curiosity and his activity remained the same. We have 
seen him in his study. It even seemed as if time had 
only increased his forces. His mental power, kept cease- 
lessly on the alert, had given him a robust old age, and, 
which is rarely the case, a fruitful old age. It was during 
the last years of his life that he put forth the greatest 
activity, and that his efforts were the most useful. During 
the whole term of his busy presidency, his eye and hand 



The Place Saint- Georges. 299 

were everywhere. Throughout the insurrection of the 
Commune, all the plans of attack were discussed in the 
Council and placed under his eyes. The great financial 
operations were studied by him in all their parts, and 
even to the smallest items. At every instant he was be- 
sieged by important, inevitable visits, and he was always 
ready. The tribune and the committees also required a 
large portion of his time, and they never found him 
remiss. He even gained leisure to read the reception 
orations delivered before the French Academy ; and, when 
the newly elected members came to pay him, as Presi- 
dent of the Republic, the customary visit, after their 
public reception by the Academy, with their neatly bound 
orations in their hands, he liked to let them see that he 
had carefully read their efforts, by the solid and piquant 
observations that he expressed. " I will never forget," 
says M. Cuvillier-Fleury, " the spirited and unexpected 
estimate of the Commentaries of Caesar, that he pro- 
nounced in our presence, on the day when I had the 
pleasure of presenting to him the author* of the Siege of 
Alesia, the historian of the Condes,f recently elected to 
the Academy. He admired the vanquisher of Vercinget- 
orix, and recognized, in the successful rival of Pompey, 
the powerful genius who had momentarily suspended, in 

* The Duke d'Aumale, son of Louis-Philippe. On April 3d, 1873, 
Thiers appeared at the Academy as the introducer of the Duke d'Aumale, 
who, in a burst of gratitude, praised him in these words : " The brave and 
able pilot who has steered the ship in her distress." 

f History of the Princes of Co?tde'\s the title of the duke's work. 



300 Life of Ihiers. 

the Roman world, the scourge of civil war. His admira- 
tion stopped there. In the same way had he celebrated 
and glorified the French Caesar. He was a judicious and 
earnest admirer of the genius of the man, but never the 
accomplice or dupe of the dictator."* 

When he wished to accomplish an immediate and im- 
perious duty, then it was that his powers of work and 
application, that his contempt of toil, showed themselves, 
and he gave himself up mind and body to the perform- 
ance of the task. His journey during the severe winter 
of 1870 to London, Vienna and St. Petersburg will be 
remembered in this connection. 

At this point belongs a very characteristic anecdote. 
It occurred at Versailles during the armistice, at the end 
of February, 1871. Thiers, accompanied by the dele- 
gates of the Assembly of Bordeaux, was discussing the 
conditions of peace with Bismarck and Moltke. After 
the preliminaries, they arrived at the two or three points 
in dispute, namely, the possession of Belfort, the amount 
of the indemnity, etc. Bismarck, although he already 
knew Thiers's powers, perceiving not only his ability and 
his sang-froid but his utter disregard of all fatigue, could 
not help expressing astonishment. The end was still 
more surprising. The discussion lasted a long time, and 
was drawing to a close when the dinner hour arrived. The 
other negotiators retired from the room one after another, 
until the two principal personages, Bismarck and Thierr.l 

* M. Fleury in the Journal des Debats. 



The Place Saint- Georges, 301 

were left alone to debate the contested points, and especial- 
ly the cession of Belfort. The companions of Bismarck 
waited a long time for their chief, impatient to sit down to 
table. At length he appeared, very hungry, and declar- 
ing that Thiers had tried to conquer him by famine. 
After dinner, the cigars lighted, they returned to the 
chamber of the deliberations. Thiers was still there look- 
ing over documents. During that whole day he had 
only taken a cup of coffee. Bismarck was amazed. 
He did not intend to be forced by hunger to forget his 
diplomatic interests, but who knows whether a sentiment 
of respect, which he could not help feeling for the man 
who disregarded so completely his physical comforts, 
may not have contributed something towards a with- 
drawal of his demand for the cession of Belfort. 

M. Henri Martin has recently furnished another ex- 
ample of Thiers's great patriotism, and which, at the 
same time, shows the tenderness of his feelings. 

" I have seen him weep twice," says M. Martin in refer- 
ence to Thiers ; " this man whom so many events and so 
many years seemed to have hardened to all the blows of 
fate. It was when he brought to us at Bordeaux, the hu- 
miliating but necessary treaty, which he was forced to sign 
at Versailles, in order to save France from utter ruin ; 
and it was when, during the civil war, he thought one 
morning that the Louvre was burning. I have seen him 
shed tears over the political grandeur and the intellectual 
grandeur of France, both given over to sword and fire." * 
* Speech at Laon, August 27th, 187S. 



302 Life of Thiers. 

His mental vigor and firm principles did not become 
weaker as he grew older. They remained the same to 
the last hour of his life. A perusal of the letter to his 
constituents * will show what strength his mind had re- 
tained under the weight of fourscore years. There is 
not a word in this document which suggests old age. It 
breathes the force and vivacity of the Protest of the 
Journalists under the Restoration, f tempered only by 
the gravity of a personal and individual situation. 
There is not less spirit, strength and common sense dis- 
played in this arraignment of the Duke de Broglie, than 
in that of Prince Polignac ; and Marshal MacMahon can 
find no more comfort in the last document, than did 
Charles X in the first. What mental energy and what 
logical precision in that passage, where, referring to the 
fall of the different governments that he had seen succes- 
sively destroyed, he shows the cause to lie in their con- 
tinual pretension of desiring to save the country by re- 
sisting its wishes. 

But it was not only strength of mind and character 
that Thiers preserved to the last: he retained also his 
brilliancy, gaiety and freshness of imagination. 

A few days before his death, which he did not expect 
so soon, though he often thought of it, he desired to 
read ^Eschylus, and had asked M. Bersot;}: for a copy. 
M. Bersot sent him the volume, pretending that it was 

* See Appendix D. f See page 36. 

\ M. Bersot is the director of the Superior Normal School at Paris, and 
a member of the Institute of France. 



The Place Saint- Georges. 303 

a prize in French oratory, for the speech he had delivered 
to the citizens of Saint-Germain a short time before. 
The idea amused Thiers very much, and he acknowl- 
edged the book in the following letter, written a week 
before his death : 



" Saint-Germain, August 27th, 1877. 

" My Dear Master, who are a model for us all in talent, 
common sense and fine speech, — I thank you for the prize 
in French oratory which you have awarded me. I will 
put the little volume in my little library, which is not 
in my large room but in my bed chamber. I have 
there a hundred small volumes, handy, in clear type, 
plainly bound, clean and in good order; in a word, made 
to be read, and not to be looked at on finely polished 
shelves. When I am weary, out of sorts, sick of the 
opinions of our conservatives, I turn to these great 
minds, with whom alone I wish to live. There it is that 
you will come to bid me a last farewell, when I leave this 
world for the other, where we will find what we loved 
and esteemed. In the meanwhile, we must see each 
other, for the time that remains to me cannot be long ; so 
— before it is too late — I pray you to arrange with Moussu 
Giraoud* to come and dine with us some day this week 
at St. Germain. 

" Every day I admire more and more this beautiful 
region, much superior to Versailles as regards taste and 



* The Marseilles pronunciation of Monsieur Giraud. M. Giraud, Dean 
of the Paris Law School, was a friend and compatriot of Thiers ; that is, he 
was a native of Marseilles. 



304 Life of Thiers. 

true grandeur. I say this without any allusion to the 
Versailles of to-day, for I cannot think of the present 
with a volume of ^Eschylus in my hand. 
" Farewell. 

" Yours truly, 

A. Thiers." 



Thiers always had — to employ an image of his cousin, 
the poet Andre Chenier — "the wings of hope."* Dur- 
ing his presidency, in the midst of the intrigues of 
the monarchical factions, whose object was the destruc- 
tion of the Republic, he sometimes said in his fits of indig- 
nation, which were always intense : " They will kill me." 
But this was only a passing mood. He soon forgot it 
and was at work again, as full of hope as ever, saying, as 
he did one day in the presence of one of our friends: 
" My family was long-lived." 

The day after his fall— May 25th, 1873 — preparations 
for his departure from the presidential palace of the Elysee 
were actively going on, in order that Marshal MacMahon 
might enter forthwith. It was near eleven o'clock in the 
morning, when Thiers was told that the municipal council 
and the mayor of Versailles wished to see him. He was 
busy taking down, with his own hands, a picture from 
the wall, when the visitors were introduced into the cabi- 
net. The visitors smiled as Thiers remarked: "You see 
I am moving." On all sides indeed was confusion : furni- 

* L'illusion feconde habite dans mon sein ; 

y'ai les ailes de V espe'rance . — The Young Captive. 



The Place Saint- Georges. 3o5 

ture disarranged, drawers open, piles of papers and books 
all about, trunks blocking up the passages, everything 
indicating that the hour of departure was near at hand. 
The mayor, M. Rameau,* spoke in the name of the coun- 
cil, and Thiers replied, thanking the people of Versailles, 
and praising their firm and moderate republicanism. Then, 
pointing to some pictures scattered about him, he con- 
tinued : " There are some paintings that I mean to give 
to the Louvre, only I desire that Mme. Thiers may 
enjoy them until my death." " We hope then that this 
will be a long way off," said M. Charton,f then deputy 
from the Yonne and member of the council. " Don't 
fear," replied Thiers ; " I am more stubborn than Time." 
The years advanced ; he was approaching his end with- 
out losing confidence, and, it is worthy of remark, that this 
obstinate faith in longevity, the sign of strong natures, as- 
sociated itself not less with his ideas than with his plans. 
The defeat of the manoeuvre of May 16th, 1877, when the 
Duke de Broglie aimed a last deadly blow at the Republic, 
was never doubted for an instant by Thiers, and awakened 
in him a belief of his early return to the presidency. On 
June 14th, 1877, i n the midst of the crisis, he wrote the 
following note to one of his prefects, whom the conspira- 
tors had just driven from office. 



* Rameau (1809 — ), who was mayor of Versailles during the critical period 
of the Prussian occupation, and risked his life more than once in the interests 
of the city, has been a republican deputy since 1871. 

f Charton (1807 — ), author and republican politician ; deputy under the 
February Republic ; deputy since 1871 ; and now (1878) senator. 



306 Life of Thiers. 

" My dear former and future prefect, I hope — I am re- 
sponding very late to your letter of May 28th. Attribute 
it only to the difficulty of answering all that is written 
me, and always rely upon my perfect esteem and my sin- 
cere friendship. Those who have ousted you from office 
are fools, in the opinion of all France, and they will soon 
be disarmed by her. I hope this will be accomplished 
without great commotion, and I thoroughly believe it 
will be. 

" Heartily yours, 

A. Thiers." 



Was it this feeling that made him so serene in the 
midst of the abuses heaped upon him by the reactionary 
newspapers, which favored the movement of May 16th? 
Among these lampoons, we instance the following, not 
that it is one of the severest, for in reality it was among 
the mildest, but because of the singular coincidence that 
belongs to it. 

The Grelot, a caricaturing paper, published on 
September 2nd, 1877, the day before Thiers's death, a 
sketch representing Thiers holding a scythe and giving 
his arm to Time, who, broken down and bent, supported 
himself on a stick and hour-glass. Both advanced smil- 
ing, walking on reactionary newspapers, among others 
the Soif, the Patrie, the Pays and the Ordre. On the 
fragments of these newspapers were seen the following 
sentiments : " By this time, we are at length probably 
rid of the sinister old man who has been the author of so 



The Place Saint- Georges. 307 

many crimes, and we * * * " — Ordre. " The sinister old 
man has at last given up his soul to the devil. He is 
dead, a just punishment for his crimes. May so perish 
those who * * * " — Patrie. " He is dead * * * " — 
Pays. " M. Thiers is very sick. The doctors promise to 
get rid of him for us * * * " — Soir. At the bottom of 
the page was printed the customary authorization de- 
manded by the French press laws : " M. Thiers author- 
izes the publication of the present design. — August 20th, 
1877." The caricature appeared on September 2nd, and 
on September 3d Thiers was dead ! 

Thiers liked humor. Caricatures afforded him great 
amusement. There was one which represented him as a 
cavalry-man, trailing behind him a long sabre, which was 
entangled in his short legs. He was delighted with this. 
He had a military temperament, and everything that 
smacked of the warrior found in his soul a ready response. 

We have said that Thiers had a high sense of personal 
dignity. He ever kept it in view ; it was one of his 
sources of strength ; he even confounded it with his 
glory. In a speech delivered in 1866 in the Corps Legis- 
latif, he said : " My language is not inspired by any per- 
sonal hostility, but by profound convictions with which, 
as a child of '89, I was born, with which, become a man, 
I have lived, for which I have sacrificed, when it was ne- 
cessary, all personal ambition, and with which I will die; 
for, throughout the long revolutions that I have expe- 
rienced, there is but one interest that \ hay. ejwi shed, to 



308 Life of Thiers. 

guard, and that I wish always tc guard, namely, my 
dignity." 

There are several anecdotes that exhibit this feeling in 
Thiers. We give two. Marshal Mortier, Duke of Tre- 
viso, attached great importance to titles of nobility. 
With the intention doubtless of being agreeable to 
Thiers, he asked him one day: " How is the baroness?" 
" Thank you," was the simple reply, Thiers not wishing 
to show his contempt the first time. But a few days 
afterwards the marshal repeated the disagreeable greet- 
ing, whereupon Thiers remarked : " 1 am much obliged 
to you for the kind interest which you take in my wife's 
health, but I must inform you that I am not a baron, and 
that if the desire seized me to be ennobled, I would not 
lhave much trouble to be named a duke. But I like much 
better to be called simply Monsieur Thiers." 

When Thiers learned that Disraeli had been elevated 
to the peerage, he said : " I cannot understand how when 
one has the good fortune to be named Benjamin Disraeli, 
he can be possessed with the desire to be called Lord 
Beaconsfield." 

It is a singular fact, that he who living cared so little for 
the calumnies of party foes, was anxious about the time 
when he would no longer be able to hear them. The idea 
of being misjudged, especially by his contemporaries, was 
of course disagreeable to him, but it was doubly so when 
he thought that he might be misunderstood by posterity. 
Along with respect for his person, he had respect for his 



The Place Saint- Georges. 309 

memory. Having learned in his latter years, that M. 
Taine was writing a book on the French Revolution, 
which belittled what he had adored, and that the icono- 
clast — this was the term Thiers used — aspired to his place 
in the French Academy, he selected a successor to his 
liking. It was Thiers who suggested M. Henri Martin, 
the distinguished historian, to his friends in the Acad- 
emy. He wished to be sure of having a sympathetic 
and equitable interpreter, capable of presenting him in 
his true light as a representative of the French Revolu- 
tion and of modern thought, in short, of " living 
France." * 

* On the entrance of a new member into the French Academy, it is the 
custom that he deliver an eulogy on the academician whom he replaces. M. 
Martin was elected June 13th, 1878, to the seat made vacant by Thiers's 
death, and M. Taine, who has since been elected, was the candidate who 
opposed him. The work of M. Taine referred to by M. Thiers, is entitled 
the Origin of Contemporary France, (Les o?igines de la Ftance contemporaine). 



CHAPTER XI. 

THE LAST DAYS OF THIERS. 

In the afternoon of Monday, September 3d, 1878, it 
became known that Thiers had died at Saint-Germain-en- 
Laye, where he had been passing several days. He had 
left Dieppe, on the coast, a short time before, less to 
escape the too bracing air of the sea, than to be near 
Paris, in order to follow more closely the political struggle 
then in progress. At Saint-Germain he continued to work, 
write and receive visitors. Ten days previous, he had 
made a strong and spirited speech. The day before his 
death, he went to Poissy, a small town near Saint-Germain, 
to see Meissonier, the artist, who was going to paint his 
portrait. He returned early to Saint-Germain, where he 
spent the evening with some friends. He was in good 
spirits, and talked with his usual force and raciness. The 
conversation turned on the fete des Loges* One of those 
who had just returned from the festivities, was describing 
the amusements then in progress. Thiers listened with 

* In the forest of Saint-Germain, at the end of a broad avenue, are the 
Loges, a number of buildings used as an educational establishment for the 
daughters of members of the Legion of Honor. On the broad green be- 
fore this school, occurs the most popular public fete-champetre of the envi- 
rons of Paris. 



jet. 80.] Last Days of Thiers. 311 

enjoyment, interrupting the narrator from time to time, 
to relate some recollection of his younger days, sug- 
gested by the conversation. He passed an excellent 
night, and had even done some work. He arose at five 
in the morning. He intended going to Paris on that 
day, as M. Barthelemy-Saint-Hilaire had made an engage- 
ment for him, between three and four o'clock in the after- 
noon, to meet several persons, among others Gambetta, 
at the hotel of the Place Saint-Georges. 

After working until seven o'clock, he took a two hours' 
walk on the terrace of Saint-Germain, leaning on the arm 
of his servant. From the terrace, is a beautiful view of 
the broad valley of the Seine, with a portion of Paris, 
and a dim outline of the historic church of St. Denis, on 
the horizon. Thiers never wearied of this grand and 
suggestive panorama. On returning from this his last 
walk, he made a few turns in the pretty little garden of 
the hotel, stopping a moment at the stable to see his 
horses, for which he had a strong attachment, and enter- 
ing his study, took up his work, which he continued 
until the hour of dejeuner. Very much occupied at this 
moment with his letter to his constituents,* and deprived 
of his first secretary, M. Aude, who was sick, he exerted 
his strength to a greater degree than ordinarily. This 
circumstance, perhaps, hastened his end. It can be said, 
however, to use the words of Montaigne, that " never did 
man live longer in death. ' 

* See Appendix D. 



312 Life of Thiers. [1&77. 

At dejeuner he ate with relish until dessert, but then a 
sudden change in his face occurred. He placed his hand 
on his forehead, where he felt an intolerable heaviness ; 
his mouth began to shrivel, and his eye grow dim ; he 
could scarcely" articulate some incoherent words, and sank 
unconsciously into an arm-chair. Dr. Le Piez, fils* — who 
took the place of Dr. Barthe, the regular physician and 
friend of Thiers — was immediately called. Dr. Le Piez on 
arriving, saw that it was the beginning of serous apoplexy. 
He applied sinapisms to the patient's legs, and leeches to 
the nape of his neck. All was useless. Thiers had, in the 
meanwhile, been carried to a bed, and was unconscious. 
When Dr. Barthe — informed of the sad occurrence by 
telegraph — arrived at four o'clock, he had only to glance 
at the patient to see that all was lost. The eyes opening 
for an instant immediately closed ; the pulse beat but 
feebly ; the limbs were growing stiff. At six o'clock and 
five minutes Thiers was dead. 

The following letter from M. G. Barbotte, the pro- 
prietor of the Hotel du Pavilion Henri IV, where Thiers 
died, contains some interesting particulars of his last days 
at Saint-Germain : 



* On Thiers's arrival at Saint-Germain, he sent for M. Le Piez, and said 
to him: "I have often heard you mentioned in Paris, sir. As Barthe is 
going away, you are to be my physician. Begin by making my acquaint- 
ance and feeling my pulse." This was said in a gay tone, and Dr. Le Piez 
little thought that the end of his distinguished patient was so near. 



^et. 75.] Last Days of Thiers. 313 

"Hotel du Pavilion Henri IV, 

" Saint- Germain, August 31st, 1878. 
"Sir: 

" M. Thiers arrived from Dieppe, August 22nd, 1877, at 
4.25. Mme. Thiers was with him. They had engaged 
the second floor of the hotel, charming apartments, whose 
windows looked out on the valley of the Seine. The suite 
was composed of a parlor and five bed-rooms. The two 
rooms near the parlor were occupied by Mile. Dosne,* who 
joined the party a few days after their arrival. The others 
were occupied by the servants. It is a peculiarity worthy 
of remark, that the beds were not those of the hotel. 
Like Louis-Philippe, M. Thiers and his wife slept each in 
a little folding-bed, which they always carried with them 
when traveling. 

" The life of the illustrious statesman was very regular. 
In the morning he arose at five o'clock. His valet de 
chambre, Louis, gave him a cup of cafe noir at six o'clock. 
Then he worked about two hours. Morel, his valet de 
pied, came at eight o'clock to take him to walk on the 
terrace, a promenade, by the way, that he liked very 
much. He returned about half past nine, slept two hours, 
and then took dejeuner with Mme. Thiers and Mile. 
Dosne. He sometimes received visitors at this repast, 
but not very often. The meal was simple, they talked a 
little, and then work was resumed and continued until 
five o'clock, when he went out again for a walk. After 
this, he slept again until eight o'clock, at which hour he 
was awakened for dinner. After dinner he went to his 
desk, where he remained until one o'clock in the morning. 
He scarcely ever slept through the night, without waking 

* Mme. Thiers's sister. 



3 H Life of Thiers. [i*n. 

up several times, and calling the servant to bring him pen 
and paper in order to make notes. 

" M. Thiers often stopped to talk with us, and liked to 
find out the names of the guests at the hotel at the same 
time with himself. The wonderful facility with which M. 
Thiers conversed on all subjects has frequently been 
noticed. He often did me the honor to talk with me 
about the supplying of our markets, and I must say that 
he spoke with a perfect knowledge of the subject, even in 
its smallest details. 

"Three days after his arrival, a deputation of the princi- 
pal republicans of Saint-Germain, came to welcome 
him to our city. M. Thiers responded with a few affec- 
tionate remarks, and finished his speech by repeating 
these words that he had pronounced on a former occa- 
sion : ' Before separating, let me again say what I have 
already said to you : the Republic will remain conservative 
or it will cease to exist.' 

" The night before his death, he was photographed on 
the hotel stoop. * * * On September 2nd, he prom- 
ised to meet Messrs. Gambetta, Calmon and Barthelemy- 
Saint-Hilaire at the Place Saint-Georges, on the 4th. 
On the morning of the 3d, he rang to have the hour of 
dejeuner made earlier, that he might take the 12.55 train. 
He sat down to table in fine spirits and with a good appe- 
tite. The repast consisted of kidneys, cold chicken, flag- 
eolets and pickles. He remarked that he never felt better. 
But, in the midst of the meal, he became indisposed, asked 
for air and requested Mme. Thiers to untie his cravat. 
The physician was sent for, but all efforts were then too 
late." 

" Yours very respectfully, 

Barbotte." 



yE T . 8 1.] Last Days of Thiers. 31 5 

The news of the event spread immediately throughout 
Saint-Germain, and produced, at the same time, surprise 
and consternation. Silent and sad groups of people 
formed in front of the Pavilion Henri IV. Dispatches 
had been sent to Thiers's old friends: to M. Barthelemy- 
Saint-Hilaire at Paris, to Mignet and M. Calmon, the first 
at Aix, the second at Chatellerault. M. Barthelemy- 
Saint-Hilaire arrived at Saint-Germain at nine o'clock, 
bowed with sorrow. At about this same hour the fatal 
news was circulated at Paris, where it produced an in- 
describable impression. Since the death of Mirabsau, 
nothing similar had been known in this great city, so sus- 
ceptible, however, to the emotions of public life, and 
which had seen so many celebrated men die. 

The next morning, September 4th, by the first train, 
visitors began to arrive at Saint-Germain, and they made 
haste to express to the family of the illustrious deceased, 
the sorrow of the public and their own private sympathy. 

Thiers was laid out on a a little folding bed, in a sombre 
and simple room, looking out on the valley of the Seine. 
All the blinds were shut, except one, by which entered 
an uncertain light, that added to the dolefulness of the 
apartment. The bed was placed directly in front of this 
open blind. The head, half lighted up, detached itself 
from the dark background. The features had preserved 
in death, during the first hours, their character so emi- 
nently personal. It was indeed Thiers as all Paris knew 



o 



1 6 Life of Thiers. j- l877 . 



him, the Thiers of Bonnat's portrait,* only paler, more 
reposed and more severe. He was dressed in a long 
white robe, open at the throat, the hands lying outside 
the sheet, and on his feet was a tartan shawl, grey and 
red, which he was often accustomed to throw over him- 
self when cold. 

Among the first visitors, was Meissonier, the artist. 
He began immediately to trace the face of the dead, 
and worked nearly three hours at a portrait. At the 
same time, M. Breunt, the photographer, took a photo- 
graph, and M. Desuchez and M. Alfred Lenoir, sent by M. 
Gillaume, director of the School of Fine Arts at Paris, 
proceeded to make a mould of the face. 

The next day, September 5th, the body was transport- 
ed to Paris, arriving at the hotel of the Place Saint- 
Georges at half-past five o'clock in the afternoon. A 
silent and sympathetic crowd, — in which all classes of so- 
ciety were represented, though workingmen in their 
blouses predominated — had collected in the square and in 
the neighboring streets. The body was carried to the 
second floor and placed in Thiers's study, which was 
transformed into a chapelle ardente. A great number of 
senators, deputies and persons of all ranks immediately 
filed by the body, as it lay there, surrounded with the 
burning wax candles. Early the next morning, the ap- 
proaches to the hotel were filled by a mass of people 

* The portrait at the beginning of this volume is engraved from an eau- 
forte of Bonnat's celebrated picture. 



y£T. 81.] Last Days of Thiers. 3 1 7 

come to insert their names in the register, placed in the 
garden for that purpose. A line over a hundred yards 
long and five or six persons broad was formed on the 
sidewalk of the rue Saint-Georges. The policemen de- 
tailed to keep order, allowed only about a dozen to ap- 
proach the registers at once. After inserting the name, 
each visitor mounted the stairs to view the body and 
quietly retired. This silent grief touched everybody's 
heart. The spectacle continued up to the day of the 
funeral, — the same mute sorrow, the same vast con- 
course. 

Public woe was seen on all sides, and was expressed in 
various ways. All the republican newspapers appeared 
in black, and filled with articles of regret and eulogy. 
The republican deputies met the first day and drew up 
an Address to the country to deplore the loss of the 
illustrious citizen, and to attest their attachment to the 
firm and prudent policy which he had marked out. 
The French Academy — convened as usual for its Thurs- 
day meeting — adjourned forthwith as a sign of respect. 
The Council-General of the department of the Seine, 
and the Municipal Council of Paris decided to partici- 
pate officially in the funeral ceremonies. The students 
of the Paris Law School, Medical School, School of 
Fine Arts, and other educational institutions, likewise 
voted tc take part in the funeral. The merchants of 
the principal commercial quarters of Paris resolved to close 
their stores on the day of interment, as a sign of ''national 



o 



1 8 Life of Thiers. \\§n. 



mourning." From all parts of France, from many of her 
cities, from the French residents in foreign lands, came 
addresses of condolence to Mme. Thiers. The cities of 
Alsace and Lorraine were the first to pay their tribute of 
respect to the illustrious dead. The inhabitants of Belfort 
decided to send an immense crown of flowers to be laid 
on the coffin. 

Foreign nations participated in this sorrow of France. 
" Europe has just lost its only great statesman," said 
Bismarck, and he ordered Prince Hohenlohe, who was 
at that moment in Germany, to return to his post as 
ambassador to France, and take part in the obsequies. 
Prince Gortchakoff wrote : " A great light has just been 
extinguished in Europe, at a moment when the political 
horizon is obscure." The President of the Chamber of 
Deputies of Vienna sent Mme. Thiers a telegram, ex- 
pressing his regrets at the death of her husband, and re- 
cognizing the services he had rendered the cause of con- 
stitutional government. The Belgian Assembly decided 
to take part in the funeral ceremonies, in recognition of 
what the deceased had done for Belgium, especially in 
favoring the expedition against Antwerp.* The great 
families of Vienna, Rome, and of most of the capitals of 
Europe, sent Mme. Thiers messages of condolence. At 
Washington, the national flag was displayed at half-mast 
on all the public buildings, out of respect for Thiers's 
memory. This act of regard would not have touched his 

* See page 65 and second foot-note. 



jet. 81] /,<«/ Z^^jj/^ gf Thiers. 319 

heart the least, if that heart had still beat. His speech 
of 1846 — which we have already referred to * — shows 
what a high opinion he had of the great trans-Atlantic 
republic. 

The expressions of eulogy and regret were unanimous, 
except in governmental circles, and in the midst of the 
reactionary parties, united at this moment to check the 
great political work that Thiers had so powerfully aided. 
The Ministry at first endeavored to cloak its real sen- 
timents. Marshal MacMahon, absent at this moment, 
telegraphed that the death of Thiers ought to be made a 
national manifestation and not a party affair. This was 
a wise and worthy idea, but it could not be realized, for 
the Government was at this very hour — without the Mar- 
shal knowing it perhaps — the Government of a party, and 
it was not able to dissemble the fact. The Ministry 
wished to regulate the ceremony, to strip it of its national 
character, and to make it a simple official manifestation. 
On September 4th, a decree announced that the obsequies 
of Thiers would be conducted by the State, which would 
have given the Duke de Broglie the right to regulate the 
ceremony to suit his fancy. Mme. Thiers refused her 
consent, not being willing at this supreme moment to see 
the friends of her husband relegated to the background, 
while his enemies were brought forward to the front. 
She, therefore, took the matter of the arrangement of the 
procession into her ov/n hands. She desired that the 

* See pages 12 1-2. 



320 Life of Thiers. i&n. 

pall-bearers be two members of the Institute, the ex- 
President of the Chamber of Deputies and Thiers's ex- 
ministers ; that only these speak at the tomb, and that 
the members of the last Chamber, and of all the Cham- 
bers of which Thiers had been a member, should occupy 
the place ordinarily given up to the Chamber of Deputies. 
These conditions, and a few others not less reasonable, 
were repelled by the Ministry, and a second decree an- 
nulled that of September 4th, and rendered Mme. Thiers 
free to carry out her wishes. 

The population of Paris keenly resented these paltry 
proceedings, by giving to the funeral a character that 
would have best satisfied the dead Thiers, and which 
was very distasteful to his enemies. Never did the people 
of Paris display greater calmness, better deportment and 
more tact. Guibert, Archbishop of Paris, — which high 
position he owed to Thiers — refused the use of the 
Madeleine for the funeral service, and the smaller church 
of Notre-Dame de Lorette had to be taken. 

But the demonstration must be followed step by step, 
to comprehend its imposing, grandeur and its remarkable 
significance. Its description pertains to history. It was 
in fact, the whole of France, modern France, child of the 
new civilization and of the free thought that it inspires, 
which followed the coffin of " the little bourgeois." 

Rain fell in the morning, a cold heavy rain which threat- 
ened to continue all day, and which caused the Frangais — • 
the Duke de Broglie's newspaper — to say : " We count on 



Mi. 1 8.] Last Days of Thiers. 321 

the inclemency of the weather to frustrate the republican 
demonstration." Nevertheless, at an early hour, large 
bodies of people began to direct their steps towards the 
Place Saint-Georges. From the Latin Quarter — the region 
of the great Paris schools — came delegations of students. 
The Faubourg Montmartre and the adjacent streets, the 
rue Notre-Dame de Lorette and the Place Saint-Georges, 
were the theatre of unusual commotion. Soon troops 
arrive, clear the square before Thiers's house, and only 
those are allowed to pass who have cards of invitation. 

The front railing and the large vestibule of the house 
were heavily draped with black. Here had been erected a 
catafalque, covered with black velvet and besprinkled with 
silver stars. Behind it stood three large candelabra with 
twenty branches each, and with all the candles burning. 
On the catafalque lay the coffin, quite hidden under a 
mass of flowers and wreaths of immortelles. On either 
side of the coffin, were displayed the numerous decora- 
tions of the deceased, covered with a veil of crape. Sena- 
tors, deputies, members of the Institute, and other dis- 
tinguished people filled the adjoining rooms. The magni- 
ficent hearse, drawn by six horses, arrived at half past 
eleven o'clock. A half hour was occupied in the prepara- 
tions of departure. On the hearse were heaped the 
wreaths and other floral offerings. Among these was an 
immense wreath made of white and blue daisies, and red 
roses, and bearing the motto, " The Youth of Paris to M. 
Thiers." Another bore the inscription, " The Frenchmen 



322 Life of Thiers. \\^n. 

of California;" a second, "The United States to M. 
Thiers ; " a third, " The Legation of the United States, 
Messrs. Washburne and Noyes." The procession left the 
house at a few minutes past noon for the church. Behind 
the hearse walked a servant, carrying on a rich cushion 
the various insignia and decorations of the deceased. A 
mass of notabilities of all grades and nations accompan- 
ied the remains to the church. 

At half past twelve the procession entered Notre- 
Dame de Lorette, which was hung with black both inside 
and outside. The pompous ceremonies of the Catholic 
church over the dead were performed, and at half-past 
one, to the sound of martial music, the procession turned 
towards the cemetery. 

The rain had ceased to fall as the column, taking the 
course of the main boulevards, commenced its march to 
Pere-Lachaise. The crowd followed, profound, grave 
and silent, loaded with immortelles. The side streets and 
the sidewalks of the boulevards, the windows, balconies 
roofs and chimneys of the houses, the seats of carriages 
and cabs, and the tops of omnibuses were packed with peo- 
ple. The stores alone were shut. Every opening was filled 
with faces. People sat on the edge of windows and bal- 
conies, in order to give those behind a chance to come 
nearer the passing procession. 

Silence ruled along the whole route. When it was 
broken for an instant, it was admirable to see how quickly 
it was resumed again. Silence was the republican watch- 



jet. 81.] Last Days of Thiers. 323 

word for that day. The young men from the schools, 
common people, the workmen were the first to signify to 
the crowd the necessity of restraining its feelings. Some 
cries were heard at the sight of the Belfort banner, where 
the name of the city stood out plainly in large silver let- 
ters on a black background. It awakened genuine emo- 
tion. On a few other occasions spontaneous outbursts of 
deep feeling came from the impetuous mass. The repub- 
licans of Paris could not resist cheering their representa- 
tives so harshly treated by the conspirators of May 16th, 
1877. Cries of "Long live Gambetta ! " "Long live 
Victor Hugo ! " " Long live Louis Blanc ! " were heard at 
intervals, mingled with " Long live the Republic ! " But 
the sentiment of the situation ruled : all was silence at 
the least sign from the leaders in the procession. This 
unanimity of feeling, that swayed the immense throng 
lining both sides of the course throughout its length, was 
very remarkable : it proved that republican Paris had 
learned self-control. 

When the procession had arrived at Pere-Lachaise, the 
speeches began in front of the family vault. M. Gr£vy, 
President of the last Chamber, spoke first. His oration — a 
true manifestation of lofty and firm reason, especially re- 
markable by its explanation of Thiers's beliet in repub- 
licanism — was received with a hearty sympathy, which 
would have burst into applause, if it had not been deliv- 
ered at an open grave. Admiral Pothuau followed in a 
few words, eulogistic of the patriotism and the military 



324 Life of Thiers. [i8 77 . 

knowledge of the historian of the Republic and the Em- 
pire. M. de Sacy * spoke in the name of the French 
Academy, and dwelt upon the literary talents of his col- 
league, and M. Vuitry f on those which had gained him 
his seat in the Academy of Moral and Political Sciences. 
And, finally, M. Jules Simon, former minister of Thiers, 
who had worked with him for the establishment of the 
Republic from the time of the February election in 1871 
up to May 24th, 1873, spoke of that memorable and last 
period of the life of the former president, and acquitted 
himself of the task with his usual talent. 

Each of these orators developed one side of Thiers's 
life and character, and united, their speeches form a resume' 
of both. But they all failed, however, to touch upon one 
trait, very essential to the entire truthfulness of the por- 
trait, and for the complete exposition of that character of a 
representative of the France of the nineteenth century, 
that we wish to portray. M. Simon said that Thiers 
showed what his nature was, when he started out in 
1870 on his peace mission to the various Courts of 
Europe, and that it might be summed up in these 
words : Patriam dilexit, veritatem coluit. " He loved his 
country and the truth." And M. Simon might have add- 
ed, that this love of truth embraced everything ; that it 

* Silvestre de Sacy, (1801 — ), son of the celebrated orientalist of the same 
name ; member of the French Academy in 1854 ; senator in 1865 ; and an 
assiduous and famous writer for the Journal des D3ais since 1828. 

\ Vuitry, (1842 — ), has held many high places in the French civil service ; 
governor of the Bank of France under the Empire ; and member of the 
Academy of Moral and Political Sciences in 1862. 



^e t . 8i.j Last Days of Thiers. 325 

would interest itself in the most elevated problems not 
only of politics but of life, and that the statesman whom 
he was celebrating was, at the same time, a philosopher 
like himself. 

This side of Thiers must not be neglected. He had 
an elevated as well as a comprehensive intelligence. 
Although, as a child of the eighteenth century, and im- 
bued with its ideas, he adopted, instinctively and through 
affinity, the spirit of Voltaire's philosophy ; nevertheless, 
he wished to demonstrate for himself and by himself its 
principles and its legitimacy. If he were not harassed 
like a Pascal by the problem of the origin and the end of 
man, his accustomed serenity was not the effect of indif- 
ference ; for the great enigma, especially in the last years 
of his life, was often a subject of his deepest meditation. 
He searched for the answer in the chemical laboratory 
with M, Pasteur,* at the observatory with Le Verrier, in 
his wide readings, and in moments of earnest reflection, 
snatched from his busy days and nights. 

The peculiar character of Thiers's mind never drew him 
towards dangerous hypotheses or seductive novelties. 
His nature, so variable in the vivacity of its impressions, 
presented an unchangeable constancy in the domain of 
ideas. We have seen this in politics ; the same is true in 
metaphysics. At twenty, he stands with Voltaire and 
Vauvenargues for the philosophy of common sense ; at 

* M: Pasteur, (1822 ), is a member of the Institute, a distinguished 

chemist, and a special authority on the germ theory. 



326 Life of Thiers. [1S77. 

eighty, we find him holding the same belief, only more 
deeply rooted. The theories of modern science were not 
repugnant to him in so far as they went, but he would 
not be held back by them, when his aspirations carried 
him beyond their limits. He accepted their facts, but not 
their conclusions. He held to the old doctrine, which 
could not comprehend motion without an author and a 
cause. Though creation appeared to him a mystery, the 
doctrine that motion arose from an impulse in the 
nature of things, from the spontaneous impulse of life, and 
that it had always existed, did not appear to him simply a 
mystery ; it was an absurdity. Between two obscurities, he 
chose the least. Between an incomprehensible mystery and 
the reversing of the laws of the mind, he did not hesitate. 
He saw the doubt, although, as far as he himself was con- 
cerned, he would not resign himself to it. He disliked to 
believe in a nothing which produces matter and spirit, or 
in an eternal infinity, blind and deaf, assuming finally by 
the evolutions of a perpetual becoming (das Werderi) — to 
use the word of Hegel — a conscience and a voice. He 
went still further, and, consistent with himself, he ad- 
mitted final causes. " I am," he once said to Barthelemy- 
Saint-Hilaire, using parliamentary language, "and I shall 
always be, a blind partisan of Providence."* 

It is to be regretted, that Thiers did not have the time 
to draw up a statement of his philosophical faith, as he 
did in the case of his political creed. But we hope that 
* " Je suis et je serai toujours le minisUriel de la Providence." 



^Et. 8 i.] Last Days of Thiers. 2> 2 7 

this blank will be filled. He left among his posthumous 
writings, a work begun in 1862, in which is treated the 
History of Humanity in its Relations with the World, 
and in which he affirms his belief in that philosophy of 
common sense which was his own. M. Barthelemy-Saint- 
Hilaire, a very competent judge in matters of this kind, 
intends soon to lay before the world these last meditations 
of his distinguished friend, — " this final work in which 
culminated all his scientific studies, all his experience of 
life, and where, in this greatest of all subjects, that mind, 
in which everything was clear and strong, will make itself 
manifest."* 

Let us hope also, that this work will tell us what Thiers 
thought of friendship, and that it will show us, what there 
was that the poet Beranger proclaimed good, in the depth 
of the soul of this man, who was so often obliged to 
lend himself to cruel acts of repression, and who, the 
day that he signed the treaty of peace with Prussia, and 
on another occasion at the end of the Commune, when 
he thought that the Louvre was burning, could not keep 
back the tears. Then we would have a complete Thiers, 
a sort of moral pendant to the portrait that Bonnat has 
left of him. 

The sketch that we have just presented, we know too 
well, will appear incomplete. It will be discovered imper- 
fect in several respects. It will be found, more than once, to 

* M. Caro, professor of philosophy at the Sorbonne, in a recent meeting; 
of the French Institute. 



328 Life of Thiers. [ l877> 

deviate from the real likeness and from the truth. Contem- 
poraries are not in the situation of equitable posterity. 
Enemies are too prone to censure ; friends, to admiration, 
and we may seem to have been of the last. This is a 
mistake. If we are far from accepting the views of the 
monarchists in regard to Thiers, we are also free from 
idolatry. We know all the reproaches that the repub- 
licans have cast upon Thiers, and some of them we con- 
sider just. Thiers was not infallible. It would have been 
strange if he had been, in a career filled with struggles 
and revolutions, for he would have had to combat the 
prejudices of others without having any himself, or to 
have had only just prejudices, a character which has not 
yet been given to a mortal. 

But it is not by the stumbles on the way that the 
traveler is to be judged, but by the strength that he dis- 
plays, by the obstacles that he surmounts, by the results 
that he attains. Posterity contemplates a man from this 
standpoint. Looked at in this way, the history of Thiers, 
such as we have endeavored to paint it, presents itself in a 
light in which its faults disappear, and leave only in view 
the grand character of a representative of the France of 
the nineteenth century, the mental qualities that he 
displayed in his various roles, and the services that he 
rendered his country and the Revolution. 

It was in this light also that the people of Paris viewed 
Thiers, in the homage that it paid him on the day of nis 
funeral, and which it repeated recently on the anniversary 



jet. 8 i.] Last Days of Thiers. 329 

of his death. Gambetta said one day in our hearing, 
that if Thiers had not died a republican, Paris would 
never have given him the funeral honors that we have 
just described. This is perfectly true. But it is neces- 
sary to add, that Thiers would never have been the man 
he was, filled with the spirit of the age, with the soul of 
the French Revolution, always ready to yield to public 
opinion when it made itself clearly known, if he had not 
become a republican. In closing his life as he did, he ac- 
complished his destiny, and Paris performed its duty in 
showering honors upon him. 



APPENDIX A. 
REGISTRY OF BIRTH. 

In the year V (1797) of the French Republic one and indi- 
visible, the 29th Germinal (April 18th), at five o'clock, appeared 
before us, clerk of the municipality of the Midy, canton of 
Marseilles, and in the office of the town clerk, the citizen Marie 
Simeon Rostan, health-officer and accoucheur, living in the rue 
laterale du Cours, block one hundred and fifty-four, number 6, 
who presented to us a boy, whose accouchement he said he had 
conducted, and whom he declared to have been born the 
twenty-sixth of this present month (April 15th, 1797), at two 
o'clock and ten minutes, of the citizen Marie Magdeleine Amic 
and the citizen Pierre Louis Marie Thiers, a freeholder, then 
absent from home, and in the house of the mother, situated 
number 15, rue des Petits-Peres, block five, to which boy has 
been given the names Marie Joseph Louis Adolphe. Done in 
the presence of the citizens Pierre Poussel, a freeholder, living 
in the rue des Petits-Peres, and Jeanne Imbert, living in the 
same street, principal witnesses, of whom the second cannot 
write, but which we have signed along with the first witness 
and the aforesaid health-officer. 

P. Poussel, 
J .Jourdan, Rostan, 

Assistant Town Clerk. Health-Officer. 



APPENDIX B. 

EXTRACT FROM THE DIARY OF THE PHYSICIAN WHO WAS 
PRESENT AT THIERS's BIRTH. 

" At five o'clock this morning I was present at the accouche- 
ment of the daughter of Amic. A severe travail lasting twenty 
hours. Bad presentation. Gestatory period nearly ten months. 
Child of masculine sex, turbulent and very viable, although his 



33 2 Life of Thiers. 

lower limbs are poorly developed. The young mother was a 
prey to great mental anguish, which explains these accidents. 
Her husband was not at home, and she does not know what 
has become of him. The mother, Santi-Lomaica, was at her 
daughter's bedside." 



APPENDIX C. 
THIERS'S LITERARY HONESTY. 

From the numerous proofs of Thiers's literary conscientious- 
ness, we select the three following. To a gentleman offering 
him some documents he writes : 

' ' Sir : — I received your letter and the note that accompanied it. It has 
always been my' habit, to accept all the documents offered me, and to collect 
the truth wherever I could hope to find it. I am, furthermore, very thank- 
ful to whomsoever aids me in my search. I will be greatly obliged, there- 
fore, to you and your father, if you will be so kind as to send me the new 
documents, and thus enlighten me in regard to the errors I may have made. 
I know that a great number have escaped me ; but I would not be blamed 
for this, if people were aware of the strenuous efforts I have made to examine 
carefully the mass of evidence that I have had to go over. 

I remain, sir, most 7'espect fully yours, 

A. Thiers, 

Jan. 2nd, 1829. No. 6 rue Cadet. 

Thiers's Notice to the Reader, in the History of the Consulate 
and Empire, begins with this paragraph : 

" I have at last finished, after fifteen years of assiduous work, the History 
of the Consulate and Empire that I began in 1840. Of these fifteen years, I 
have not allowed one to pass, except that which political events forced me to 
spend outside of France, without giving all my time to the difficult work 
that I had undertaken; I know the task might have been performed quicker, 
but I have such a respect for the mission of history, that the fear of stating 
an inexact fact fills me with a sort of confusion. I can have no repose, 
until I have found the proof of the fact about which I have my doubts ; 
I look for this proof wherever I think it possible to find it, and I do not 
stop until I have discovered it, or until I am certain that it does not 
exist." * * * * 

President White of Cornell University, — an eminent authority 
on French history — substantiates Thiers's own statements. 
Speaking of the Consulate and Empire he says : 

" As to its fidelity in detail, I have no doubt. After reading it years ago 
in Paris, I went to the Hotel des Invalides, made the acquaintance of in- 
telligent old soldiers of the Grande Armee, and was able to verify various 



****/ }</Y*» h~ fix* 

fy^* t {&JU, o4^5u 



6V<? _/vJ 



>>tf /<>>«. C H\J>lr ,■**/<** \{l*Xi*/ 



See fcotnote on page 751 



Appendix D. 333 

curious and interesting details in it. Indeed, I may also say, that I have 
verified some very interesting details in his Historv of the French Revolu 
Hon, in conversation with an old republican of that time." * * * * 



APPENDIX D. 

THIERS'S LETTER TO THE VOTERS OF THE NINTH ARRON- 
DISSEMENT OF PARIS.* 

[We have found in the papers of M. Thiers the following 
document. After having written the whole of it with his own 
hand, he had time to review the first part of it. The remainder 
needed revision, and he had reserved this task for the day that 
took him from us. We have not thought it best to make any 
change in these last views of M. Thiers, and, in publishing this 
document which he intended to publish himself, we only con- 
form to his wishes, m hich always had in view the truth and the 
public good. 

Mignet.] 

My Dear Constituents : 

The Chamber of Deputies elected in February, 
1876, was in May, 1877, denounced before France by the Execu- 
tive, condemned by the Senate, and sent before the country, its 
unique and final judge. The Assembly has the legitimate right 
to defend itself, and I, in the name of my colleagues and my- 
self, am about to exercise this right, which no power can or 
will, doubtless, try to limit. 

As for myself, I took so little part in the work of the Cham- 
ber recently dissolved, that I think I can consider myself an 
impartial witness of what it did, and I do not hesitate to say, 
with its distinguished president, M. Grevy, that it has not ceased 
for an instant to merit the thanks of France for its prudence, 
its moderation and its patriotism. 

It is true that two ministries have fallen since the Assembly 
convened, but was this due to the Assembly or to the Execu- 
tive and his Cabinet ? The first of these ministries succumbed 
to the will of the Senate, as was stated by its able chief, M. 

* The text that has been followed, is that of the Rdptiblique Francaise, 
(Gambetta's newspaper,) of September 25th, 1877. 



334 Life of Thiers. 

Dufaure ; the second fell by the rupture between the Execu- 
tive and the Assembly, a rupture which occurred very unex- 
pectedly on May 16th of this year, and which has never yet 
been completely explained. 

Let us look for its explanation in the facts themselves, briefly 
but sincerely stated. When this Chamber — the first elected 
since the institution of the Republic — came together at Ver- 
sailles, there was ground for some apprehension at the thought 
of the multitude and gravity of the questions about to be sub- 
mitted to deputies, for the most part new, and not very familiar 
with public affairs. 

There were five things to fear : i, That, on account of the 
enormous burdens bequeathed to the Republic by former gov- 
ernments, the difficulty of meeting these burdens would give 
rise to projects of taxation, which would be contrary to true 
financial principles ; 2, that the necessity of responding to the 
simultaneous armament of all the European nations would give 
birth to modes of recruitment, which would be detrimental to 
the welfare of the army ; 3, that the political conduct of certain 
prelates towards neighboring nations, certain pretensions of 
the clergy irreconcilable with the ancient principles of the Gal- 
lican Church, would provoke discussions that would endanger 
the good relations between the Church and the State ;* 4, that, 
in the midst of the general emotion produced in Europe by the 
events in the East, the French tribune, so impetuous under the 
Monarchy, would not be less so under the Republic, and that 
thence would arise new difficulties for the maintenance of peace ; 
5, and, finally, that the attitude of the majority of the Senate 
towards the Chamber of Deputies, its disposition to oppose all 
the views of the elective Chamber, its often-manifested prefer- 
ence for the monarchical form of government, and, in fine, its 
pretension to participate actively in the vote of the budget, 
would occasion dangerous conflicts between the two bodies. 
The darkest forebodings were entertained everywhere on this 
point. As for myself, if I was not so prompt to predict con- 
tentions that I was far from desiring, I was not, nevertheless, 
entirely free from fear. 

* During the spring of 1877, some of the French bishops in their charges 
declared that the Pope was a prisoner, berated the Italian Government very 
severely, and called upon President MacMahon to re-instate him by force. 
They also advocated vigorously the temporal power of the Pope. 



Appendix D. 335 

In regard to the army, it was proposed to reduce the term of 
military service from five years to three years, and this Chamber, 
which was accused of favoring the abolition of standing armies, 
named a committee which rejected the proposal before it was 
scarcely presented. 

As regards ecclesiastical affairs, the Church budget, by a 
singular coincidence of circumstances, was discussed at the 
very moment when public opinion was the most excited over 
the charges of certain bishops. But this budget left our hands 
increased by several hundred thousand francs ; no proposition 
threatening to the Concordat* was entertained, and the charges 
in question, deplored by all enlightened catholics, were only 
subjected to the mild censure of an order of the day. 

But, some say, it would have been better not to have said 
anything about them. That is true ; but in order not to have 
had anything said, the charges should not have been written. 
And furthermore, if, after the first charge, the pen of our prelates 
had been laid aside, the matter would not have been so serious. 
But a second attack, still more violent, followed the first, a third 
was being prepared, and it was absolutely necessary to put a 
stop to this war of words, which was endangering the quiet of 
the public mind at home and peace abroad. In spite of these 
acts, the Church budget, we repeat, was not reduced but in- 
creased ; the Concordat remains untouched, and all unfortunate 
debate on this subject has been avoided or cut short. 

Every tribune of Europe has, at the same moment, re-echoed 
with long discussions concerning foreign affairs. At Berlin, 
Vienna, Rome, London, Belgrade, Bucharest and Athens, the 
Eastern question has been debated. Everybody has spoken, 
even the diplomates who generally are quiet, and who have 
chosen the banks of the Bosphorus in order that their voices 
may be heard. Europe has been able to judge if it was in the 
interest of peace ! Paris alone was silent, and in our Chamber 
of Deputies, which, being young, might have been ambitious, 
there was but one opinion, and that was, to be silent. And 
this plan was followed, not that we might be thought skillful 
diplomates, but that no new sources of excitement might be 
added to the universal agitation. 

* In July, 1 801, Bonaparte, as first Consul, forced a Concordat out of 
Pope Pius VII, which was ratified in 1802, and which has ever since regu- 
lated the relations of the French Catholic Church with Rome. The Church 
became subordinate to the State in temporal matters, and the appointment 
to the bishoprics was retained by the Government. 



336 Life of Thiers. 

There remained one more subject of a disagreeable nature 
which it was necessary to avoid : the relations between the 
two Chambers. When the Senate was seen to favor the election 
of candidates most notoriously hostile to the Republic, and 
eagerly entertained propositions directly opposed to the wishes 
of the Chamber of Deputies, it would not have been strange if 
this Chamber retaliated, especially on the occasion when the 
Senate made amendments to the budget.* But what really 
happened ? The Senate made seven amendments to the budget. 
Never in England has the House of Commons admitted the 
right of the House of Lords to interfere in financial matters, 
and if the latter suggest on this subject a good idea, it is not 
allowed to be made in the form of an amendment. In order 
that it be accepted, it must come through the House of 
Commons. 

Everybody knew this. It was stated by eloquent voices-. 
Nevertheless, on the motion of M. Jules Simon, the right of 
the Senate, though very questionable and strongly disputed, 
was admitted, and, of the seven amendments, five were accepted 
by the Chamber of Deputies ! Some will say that this was be- 
cause the Senate was right. Perhaps so ; but, if this were so, 
the Chamber of Deputies deserves some praise for having con- 
demned itself. And we ask of everybody who has in his breast 
a spark of the sentiment of justice, if the Senate, treated with 
so much deference by the Chamber, acted rightly in dissolving 
it.f But wait a few days. The Senate which has judged the 
Chamber will soon in its turn be judged by the country, the 
judge of us all, the highest and final judge. 

Let us recapitulate these facts : The income-tax removed ; 
the term of military service preserved ; the church fund in- 
creased ; the Concordat untouched ; a simple order of the day 
opposed to dangerous charges ; absolute silence on foreign 
politics ; and, lastly, in regard to the relations between the 
great State bodies, marked deference on the part of the Cham- 
ber towards the Senate, and the very questionable financial 
pretensions of the latter conceded without contestation. Such 
are the facts as known to France and all Europe. 

How explain then the onslaught made on this Chamber ? 

* Towards the end of December, 1876. 

f According to the present French Constitution, the President can dissolve 
the Chamber only when seconded by the Senate. 



Appendix D. 337 

They say it was radical. Radical ! What means this word, 
new at least in France, and now first introduced into our politi- 
cal language ? Nobody speaks any more of socialism, and 
this is very natural. There was a time when it was proper in 
France to speak of socialism, for people were continually dis- 
cussing property rights, the labor question, progressive taxation, 
the equality of wages, free and unlimited credit. These terms 
are now almost forgotten here, though they are being taken up 
in other quarters. Moral epidemics, like physical epidemics, 
rage for a while, and, when they have spent their force in one 
country, pass on to another. 

Socialism has invaded neighboring lands, powerful and glor- 
ious, which have taken it in hand without showing any fear 
of it, for they know that real or affected alarm only renders 
epidemics more dangerous, and they are aware that with moral 
epidemics the only efficacious remedy is time, reason and liberty. 
It was in this way that we rid ourselves of socialism, and so will 
be delivered from it all the other countries that it has attacked. 

But what is meant by radicalism, this word employed by the 
ministers of May 16th ?* If by it is designated a certain con- 
ception of the democratic spirit, which threatens the civil admin- 
istration, the finances, the army, the Church, and the good under- 
standing that should exist between the different branches of 
the Government, if it mean the intervention of Parliament in 
foreign affairs, then, indeed, a Chamber should be energetically 
resisted which should allow itself to pursue such a policy. 

But to call a Chamber radical which does not even discuss, 
an income-tax ; which maintains intact the term of military 
service ; which votes the appropriations for all the religions 
recognized by the State, and augments notably that of the: 
Catholic church ; which, in the presence of condemnable acts 
of certain bishops, restricts itself to a simple vote of censure, 
when all other citizens would run the risk of being severely 
punished for similar acts ; which, far from denying the just 
powers of the Senate, grants this body rights which England 
does not grant the House of Lords, and treats with scrupulous 
consideration an Upper House which does not reciprocate its 
courtesy ; should such a Chamber be called radical ? No, the 
ministers may say so, but you will not think so. 

* The republican cabinet of Jules Simon was dismissed by MaeMahon, 
and the Duke de Broglie, a moderate royalist, became President of the 
Council, with the notorious Fourtou, an old Bonapartis-t,. as Mindsterof the 
Interior, on May 16th, 1S77. 



338 Life of Thiers. 

And if, from these questions of principle, we pass to certain 
questions of an incidental nature that presented themselves, and 
which the enemies of the Republic hoped to make the occasion 
of attacks and trouble, such as amnesty and the law concerning 
university education, what happened ? 

For the last six years, permanent courts-martial have sat, 
daily pronouncing sentence on fresh victims of the Commune, 
who had returned to work or were ready to, and shutting them 
out from employment, rather than definitely establishing them 
in some occupation. It was high time to put an end to these 
prosecutions, and the Chamber did it. Other condemned 
Communists, transported to distant climes, displayed the best 
signs of repentance, by cultivating the soil and sending for their 
families. Those should be judiciously pardoned, and the 
Chamber left to the Executive the care of carrying this provision 
out, in meritorious cases and without harming the cause of 
justice. In the place of troubles resulting from this policy — 
troubles that had been predicted and perhaps desired — it had 
a pacifying effect.* 

Many worthy people, liberal and religious, in the good accepta- 
tion of the word, regretted the creation of two systems of uni- 
versity education, one laic, the other Catholic, the two tending 
to perpetuate the existence of two nations within the nation, and, 
in the interest of national unity, they wished the law had never 
been made or carried out.f Others, more moderate, preferred 
that the matter be limited to the restitution to the State, of the 
rights which belonged to it in the conferring of degrees. The 
Chamber of Deputies — favoring the more moderate solution of 
the question — adopted the latter view. But the Senate refused 
to restore to the State its incontestable rights. The Chamber 
yielded, and the question was dropped. 

When it is remembered that the Chamber was new ; that 
every new Chamber has to be educated ; that it is necessary to 
familiarize, with the enormous figures of the budget, men who 
have no idea of the expenses of a great State ; to reconcile 
them with the central authority, which they have often com- 
bated in the Municipal Councils and the Councils-General ; J 

* From December 1877 to June 1878, Marshal MacMahon pardoned or 
commuted the penalties of 8qO Communists. The question of complete 
amnesty is now~(i878) being agitated in the Chamber of Deputies. 

\ This law was passed in 1875. 

\ Each department has a Council-General {conseil g/ne'tal,) which may be 
likened to an American State Legislature. 



Appendix D. 339 

that it is required to prove to them the utility, or at least the 
necessity of certain taxes which are the bane of their district ; 
that, all of them coming up with projects for internal improve- 
ments for the sea-ports, roads, canals and railways of their de- 
partments, have to be made to understand that, to carry out 
these improvements, useful without doubt, the State is powerless 
and time all-powerful ; that they are thus forced to undergo a 
series of disenchantments, which explains the fact that every 
vote of a new Legislature is a source of anxiety and danger to 
the Government ; — on considering these things, would it be 
surprising if the new Chamber — the first of the Republic — had 
met with the common fate and perhaps committed some blunder, 
passed some hasty vote, which would have to be reconsidered 
at the following sessions ? Far from this, the Chamber which 
was recently dissolved, has disappointed not our hopes, but our 
fears. To our great surprise, we found it pervaded by a spirit 
of good will not known in the last Chambers of the Empire, 
which were recruited from a democracy already republican, and 
unable to control a sort of feeling of bitterness towards a power 
which was not congenial to it. This Chamber, however, find- 
ing itself in harmony with the administration, desired the 
success of the Government and came to its aid. Discreet, mod- 
erate, intelligent, always ready to meet half way, without de- 
ception and without weakness, it knew how to avoid all dangers, 
except one, on which it did not fall of itself, but which seemed 
to be thrown in its way, like a rock suddenly rising from the 
waves. 

But, I am told, you forget the shocking scenes that occurred 
there. No, not at all, I have not forgotten them. I saw them, 
and they are the worst, the most scandalous in which I have 
taken part for a half century. I have seen the rules violated, 
the President of the Chamber insulted, not being able to make 
his voice heard or his authority respected. Yes, I have wit- 
nessed all this. But can these scenes be laid at the door of the 
last Chamber ? They were provoked not by it, but against its 
wishes ; by its enemies united for the overthrow of the Republic, 
and if, in its indignation, the Chamber did not instantly repress 
these disgraceful spectacles by an act of authority, it was not 
because the Chamber was weak, but because it had regard for 
the feelings of its enemies. 

But let us leave this subject. The question is not concern- 
ing the faults of the Chamber, for it had none. Everything 



34-Q Life of Thiers. 

that has been said on this point is pure fabrication. Let us 
rather seek the truth in this matter, and the country, before 
whose eyes all has happened, will recognize it and proclaim it. 

Here is the truth : In 1873, when the country saw adminis- 
trative affairs, the army and the finances re-established, and 
the foreign enemy departed from our soil, a universal cry arose 
for the abandonment of the provisional form of government, 
and for the establishment of a permanent government, that is 
to say, to give to each party, weary of waiting, the government 
of its choice. But there were three monarchical parties,* and 
but one throne. The idea of gratifying them had, therefore, 
to be abandoned. As for myself, my mind was made up. In 
the presence of these three competitors, the Monarchy was im- 
possible. The Republic was difficult without doubt, but pos- 
sible if prudence and wisdom were exercised. Under the 
Republic France had just been revived. I would have pre- 
ferred that the question had not been brought up, but it could 
no longer be evaded. A simple deputy, elected President of 
the Republic by my colleagues, I stated the question without 
allowing myself to solve it. I could do neither more nor less. 
The three monarchical parties, united in the common design of 
resisting the establishment of the Republic, proposed to the 
Assembly that it separate itself from me, and, as I was not less 
desirous of separating myself from it, I handed in my resigna- 
tion, for which my successor did not have to wait ten minutes. 

I might have remained in office as long as the Assembly 
itself:! was authorized so to do by a constitutional law ;f I 
could have done so on one condition : by dismissing a ministry 
in which I had confidence, and which had powerfully aided me 
in the work that I had accomplished. I was not willing to do 
this. A king, whom the monarchical principle obliges to re- 
main at the head of the State, may employ this means of satis- 
fying public opinion ; but an elective chief, chosen for the very 
reason that he always held that the Government ought to be in 
accord with the majority in the representative Chamber, from 
the moment that this accord ceases, is bound to resign. It is 
true that the country was with me, but not the Assembly which 
had elected me. I had a motive still loftier than my personal 

* The legitimists, with the Count de Chambord at their head, the Orlean- 
ists, who allied around the Count de Paris, and the Bonapartists, led by the 
1 Prince Imperial. 

f The Rivet Constitution. See pp. 229-232. 



Appendix D. 341 

dignity, the most powerful and the most vital interest of the 
country. The question of the Monarchy or the Republic is 
the torment of France. To settle it is of prime importance 
for the nation's repose, well-being and future. As long as I 
remained in office, the question did not stand on its own merits ; 
it could be said that my ill-will was the only obstacle in the way 
of the re-establishment of the Monarchy. If I were out of the 
way, there would be the most astonishing and decisive evidence 
in favor of the Monarchy. 

Well, through the action of the victorious majority, the 
Government was abandoned to the whole body of declared 
and well-known partisans of monarchy, who thenceforth had 
their own way. In defiance of the laws, and regardless of pro- 
priety, the crown of France has been hawked along the high- 
ways of Europe by men without authority ; and, after all these 
efforts, witnessed by all nations,, it has been found necessary to 
admit that the Monarchy is impossible. One trial should have 
been enough. The first cost the country so dear, that it should 
not have been soon repeated. But everybody did not look at 
the question in this light ; and, a second time — on May 16th 
last — a final and signal demonstration was made. 

On May 16th, 1877, as on May 24th, 1873,* the same sad 
spectacle was witnessed of three monarchical parties, united 
for the moment for the overthrow of the object of their com- 
mon hatred, suddenly dissolving the union and loading each 
other with abuses and threats ; then, when they feel that it is 
dangerous to continue the rupture, coming together again, only 
to fall apart once more, and to fill France with disgust and 
Europe with commiseration for a grand and noble nation, given 
over to such deplorable distractions. 

Then began that state of affairs, which could not last, of a 
republican constitution with an anti-republican administration : 
and herein lies the cause of the dissolution of the Chamber. 
In every branch of the civil service, and especially in those of 
a political nature, there have been — if we make a few excep- 
tions — -sub-prefectsf governing in the name of the Republic, 
and not concealing either their aversion to it, or their con- 
viction that it was impossible, or the hope that it would not 
last. In other divisions of the Government — where propriety 

* The date of Thiers's resignation. See Chapter IX. 
fA sub-prefect {sous-prifet) is the chief executive of an arrondissement, 
one of the divisions of a department. 



34 2 Life of Thiers. 

imposed more reserve — the same sentiments existed, though 
kept in the background, and, descending from the great centres 
to the minor provincial offices, where people are under less 
restraint, the pettiest office-holders were found to entertain the 
same opinions. This state of things grew worse as the repub- 
lican office-holders, or those converted to republicanism, who 
owed their places either to the Government of September 4th,* 
or to the Government of which I was the head, were succes- 
sively eliminated, and, in a short time, we saw a government, 
republican in form, in the hands of an anti-republican admin- 
istration. 

This state of affairs, which always confuses the public mind, 
ended, after many changes, by becoming intolerable. When, 
after the elections of February, 1876, which went republican, 
the Chamber, which had been dissolved a short time before, 
came together again, it made known at Versailles the astonish- 
ment and disapprobation of the country. It acted discreetly, 
and the ministers chosen from its midst, obeying its wishes, 
made some modifications in this contradictory state of things, 
which put authority in the hands of men opposed to the nature 
of the government which they served. But, hampered in their 
efforts, they only partially satisfied a nation which expected a 
thorough change. 

At each adjournment the Chamber remarked this spirit of 
discontent, and on re-assembling at Versailles it again called 
the attention of the ministers to the fact. It urged the subject 
upon them, not rashly but calmly, with regard for the feelings 
of the ministers whom it esteemed, and whose embarrassments 
it was aware of. It was impossible, in fact, that this lack of 
harmony should not soon become a subject of prime importance. 

I declare before the country — certain of not being contra- 
dicted by it — that the situation is such as I have just described it. 

From the force of necessity, the monarchical parties have con- 
ceded the Republic as a principle ; but they have seen fit to 
reserve the real power to themselves, and we have had, I re- 
peat, a republican constitution with an anti-republican admin- 
istration and anti-republican office-holders. 

Every nation has a right to the form of government that 
pleases it, and when this government has been established, it 
has the right to require that this government be served loyally. 
Nobody is forced to serve a government that he does not like, 

* See page 196, foot-note. 



Appendix D. 343 

but if he accept it, and especially if he take office under it, he 
is bound to perform his duties faithfully, with a desire for the 
success, not for the overthrow of the form of government. 
Everybody, of course, has the right to aspire to office, what- 
ever may be his party or his origin ; in fact, it is to be desired 
that men of experience — old public servants — continue to serve 
the State, but always on condition that they serve it loyally.* 

It will be remembered that at Bordeaux} we, who served the 
Republic, were formerly monarchists. This, however, was not 
true of all. But we were demanded ; we did not step forward 
without being called, and we took office purely through good- 
will, because our presence re-assured the alarmed nation. And 
at last we were convinced of the necessity of the Republic. I 
wish the Republic many similar servitors, and from whatever 
quarter they may come, they will always be welcomed if they 
are honestly determined to help on the common cause, which, 
if it succeed, will be a blessing and not a detriment to France. 

The question, therefore, raised by the proceeding of May 16th, 
may be summed up as follows : Is the Republic needed, and, if 
so, should it be firmly established by men who wish its success ? 
Herein lies the whole question at issue. 

Now, I ask every honest man, to whatever party he may be- 
long, if the Count de Chambord could be placed on the throne 
with the opinions that he professes and with the flag that he 
unfurls, or if it is hoped that he may some day be acceptable 
after he has modified his views ? We respect him too much to 
believe it. I will say nothing of the Orleans princes, who wish 
to be mentioned only after the Count de Chambord, according 
to their hereditary rank ; but I ask if the country is ready to 
receive the Prince Imperial, who, though innocent of the mis- 
fortunes of France, suggests them so keenly, that the nation 
still shudders at the bare mention of his name ? Nobody dare 
answer me yes ; and, in fact, all the friends of these candi- 
dates postpone, until a future time, the day when their claims 

* Thiers must not be understood to advocate our pernicious American 
system of office-holding. He simply means, that office-holders should be- 
lieve in the nature of the government they are serving, not in the infalli- 
bility of this or that party or chief, who all advocate the same form of 
government. 

f The National Assembly, elected February 9th, 1871, first meet at Bor- 
deaux, where it remained until March of the same year, when it removed to 
Versailles. 



344 Life of Thiers. 

may be put forward. The truth of this statement is seen in 
the fact that they make no move, though the greatest indulgence 
has been shown all the monarchical parties. 

Now, until this day — more or less distant— arrive, what will 
France do ? France will wait until her future masters are 
ready : until one is brought over to other ways of thinking, 
until another has made an advance in his right of succession, 
and until a third has finished his education. In the mean- 
while everything will be in suspense, commerce, industry, finan- 
ces, State affairs. How can business men be asked to engage 
in great industrial enterprises, and financiers to negotiate loans, 
when the future threatens fresh political troubles ? And how 
can foreign Cabinets be expected to strengthen their relations 
and form alliances with us, when French policy is liable to be 
directed by new chiefs and influenced by new ideas ? Dare 
anybody ask such sacrifices of a great nation, that Europe has 
admired in its prosperity and also in its misfortunes, on seeing 
it restored once more, on seeing it revive again, displaying a 
rare wisdom in the midst of provocations, which it endures 
with such sang-froid and calm firmness ? 

Some men who, because they call themselves monarchists, 
believe that they know the secrets of the crowned heads, pre- 
tend that their reign is desired, and that then France will 
regain its prestige and alliances. But we would say to these 
men who think they understand Europe, but who, in reality, 
know nothing about it, and attribute to it their own ignorance 
and prejudices, that Europe looks with pity on their pretensions 
and hopes, and blames them for having got their country into 
the present trouble, instead of giving it the only form of govern- 
ment possible to-day. This Europe was formerly under abso- 
lute princes, but, recognizing the march of time, it is now ruled 
by constitutional princes, and is satisfied with the change. 
Europe understands that France, after the fall of three dynas- 
ties,* has gone over to the Republic, which, during the last six 
years, has lifted the country out of the abyss into which the 
monarchists precipitated it. Europe has seen our military 
prestige destroyed and a new prestige take it's place, that of 
the inexhaustible vitality of a prostrate country, suddenly rising 
up and furnishing the world an unheard of example of re- 

* The legitimist in 1793, and again in 1830; the Bonapartist in 1815, 
and again in 1870 ; and the Orleanist in 1848. 



Appendix D. 345 

sources of every kind, so that France, even after Worth, Sedan 
and Metz, has shown herself to be great still. It was under 
the Monarchy that she fell, but under the Republic that she 
arose again. And once more on the road to prosperity, it was 
the monarchists again that threw obstacles in the way of her 
reconstruction. If it be the esteem of Europe that is sought, 
listen to Europe, hearken to its opinion ! 

For this it is, that we persistently ask if there be any other 
alternative than the following : Either the Monarchy, which is 
impossible, because there are three claimants and but one 
throne ; or the Republic, difficult to establish without doubt, 
not because of itself, but because of the opposition of the 
monarchical parties, and, nevertheless, possible, for it is sup- 
ported by an immense majority of the people. 

It is the duty, therefore, of this immense majority of the 
people to consult together, to unite and to vote against those 
who resist the establishment of the only government possible. 
The Monarchy to-day, after the three revolutions that have 
overthrown it, is immediate civil war, if it be established now ; 
and if put off for two years, or three years, the civil war is 
only postponed until that epoch. The Republic is an equitable 
participation of all the children of France in the government of 
their country, according to their abilities, their importance, and 
their callings,— a possible and practical participation, excluding 
nobody except those who announce that they will govern only 
by revolution. The Republic is absolutely necessary, for every- 
body who is not blind or deceitful must admit, that it alone is 
possible after all that happened in October, 1873,* and all 
that has occurred since May, 1877. 

Our adversaries will retort, perhaps, that we calumniate them 
in saying that they do not want the Republic. No, we do not 
believe that they will call themselves calumniated. Can they 
pretend that they have rallied to the Republic, when their past 
speeches, their language of to-day, their confidential talk and 
their polemics in the newspapers which represent them, proclaim 
them legitimists, Orleanists, or Bonapartists ; when, consenting 

* During this month, the legitimists made a strong effort in favor of the 
Count de Chambord, but failed utterly through the count's refusal to accept 
th.T crown, except as an advocate of anti-revolutionr-v principles. The 
Duke de Broglie was one of the prime movers in this " monarchical con- 
spiracy." On October 12th, elections were held in four departments, and 
the republican candidates were chosen. 



346 Life of Thiers. 

to serve the Republic, they do not deign to name it ; when a 
municipal magistrate, receiving the President with the respect 
that is due him, and telling him that the people will be charmed 
to show him their attachment for republican institutions, is re- 
moved from office for using this language, as was his predecessor 
for a similar sin ! No, we defy our adversaries to call themselves 
republicans. We wish we could believe that they were repub- 
licans, because they would then aid in the only solution of the 
difficulties with which we are surrounded. We wish it ; but 
they will expose themselves to contradiction from every quarter, 
if they dare to declare that they are republicans. 

Others may say, perhaps, that they will accept in earnest a 
good Republic, but they do not want a bad one. And we agree 
with them : we favor the good and not the bad Republic, and 
no one of us asks for any other. But when did this question 
of a bad Republic appear ? What day did this bad Republic 
show itself ? Was it when at Bordeaux, Versailles, or Paris, in 
the midst of disasters without parallel, and in the midst of 
ruins, it re-established a government, an army, and the finances, 
stamped out anarchy, caused the laws to be respected, paid an 
enormous indemnity, freed our soil from the enemy's troops, 
and made France herself again ? Was that the bad Republic ? 
And again, when, in the midst of all sorts of difficulties created 
by its adversaries, this Republic, belied, harassed, directed how- 
ever by republican ministries, calmed the people, and, without 
being able to satisfy all their wishes, secured them a tolerable 
existence from February, 1876, to May, 1877, — was this a bad 
Republic? You can decide this, by comparing the year 1876 
with the year 1877. Ask an answer from industry, from 
commerce, from all Europe, witness to the truth of our asser- 
tions ; and all will answer you, and will tell you what a differ- 
ence there is between the good and the bad Republic, for they 
have been able to compare them. 

Yes, you made the bad Republic known to us on May 16th ! 
Though, doubtless, in an embarrassed condition on the eve of 
this change, though disturbed by your menaces, the Republic 
was, nevertheless, still active, laborious, peaceable, protected, be- 
cause its legality was respected, and acknowledged by all the 
political parties, because circumstances forced them to accept 
it. Bui -vhat a spectacle does the proceeding of May 16th 
present ! Its authors say : We appeal to the country that it 
may make known its wish. It would be proper, then, to 



Appendix D. -347 

let the country speak freely, and especially to let it speak 
as soon as possible ; for such a state of critical suspense as 
the present cannot be made too short. While all our other 
governments have never taken more than twenty or thirty days 
to get a response, and on but one occasion sixty,, this Gov- 
ernment not only takes the three months authorized by law, 
but to these three months is added, by a manifestly illegal 
interpretation, a new delay ; and finally, instead of letting the 
country speak perfectly freely, since it is being consulted, the 
very contrary is done, by an outrageous violation of every ob- 
servance. Not only are the essential principles of republican 
government ignored every day, but also the most incontestable 
principles of public right, observed among all free peoples, 
whether they live under a republic or a king. 

In every free State the first' care, when an election is to be 
held, is to obtain the untrammeled vote of the nation. With 
us, however, free discussion is interfered with on every hand ; 
the news-venders and the railroads are forced to surrender at 
discretion, without the Government giving a thought to the 
trials of those who are thus deprived of their daily bread ; and 
office-holders, who have nothing to do with politics, are struck 
down in order to intimidate rebellious voters. 

Do they stop here ? No. Read what is written with im- 
punity in the Government newspapers, with the Government's 
permission we may say, for the Government does not try to stop 
it. These newspapers speak out boldly, and declare that if the 
measures being taken do not defeat the return of the mai'ority 
that was dissolved, the voice of the country must be disre- 
garded. The Chamber should be again dissolved until the 
Government can have its way. The Constitution, in fact all 
constitutions hold that in case of a difference between the 
Chamber and the Government, the country is to be appealed 
to, and when it has spoken the difference is settled. Now, as 
it was not supposed that peoples or governments were fools, it 
was not laid down that, the country, having given its answer, 
should not be consulted a second or third time. Nothing was 
said on this point, because neither the governing body nor the 
governed were suspected of insanity. We should all use our 
common sense. The monarchists say that if the elections 
do not go as is wished, the Chamber will be again dissolved, 
and this will be repeated, as often as is necessary, until 1880.* 

* This is the date fixed upon by the present (1878) Constitution of France, 



348 Life of Thiers. 

But, though it takes time to bring about a dissolution, if 
December 31st arrive without the budget being voted, it will 
make no difference, the taxes will be levied without being voted. 
And, furthermore, there is the Senate. The Senate will vote 
the budget if there is no Chamber to do it, and then 
and then . . . force remains, and force will be employed. 

Such is their unblushing and audacious contempt of every 
law. I ask my contemporaries, those who recall the days of 
1830, if, under M. de Polignac, anybody would have dared to 
say that, if the Chamber of Deputies did not vote the budget, 
the King and the Chamber of Peers could do so ? No, evidently 
not ; or the response would have been the same as that made 
to the famous Ordinances.* 

Not only are the principles peculiar to a republic violated, 
but the simplest parliamentary principles observed by three 
constitutional monarchiesf are disregarded. They would be 
guilty of an act that Napoleon III, in the height of his power, 
would never have dared to do : they would levy taxes that were 
not voted ! And, in fine, they write these criminal words, that 
if force be necessary, force will be used ! This is the bad 
Republic. It is the only one that has appeared since Bordeaux, 
and it is the production of the impetuous and audacious mon- 
archical parties. Fellow citizens, here are the facts. You see 
them. It is not necessary to prove them. Have we ever had 
a more astounding example of the violation of every principle ? 
Every means of circulation — the common property of all — 
usurped to profit an opinion ; every channel closed against the 
truth, when the nation needs and ought to know everything ; 
the insolent declaration that, if the country does not obey, does 
not vote as the Government orders, it will have to come to the 
polls again ; and that, if there is not time to vote the budget, 
the taxes will nevertheless be levied. This is published with 
impunity, this violation of every principle of a republic and a 
monarchy, of every principle no longer denied even at Con- 
stantinople. Personal violence is alone wanting ; and this will 
come if, as they have dared to propose, they add the crime — 
things must be given their right name — the crime of declaring 
the country in a state of siege ; that is, France called upon to 

vote under the jurisdiction of courts-martial. Such, I repeat, 

. - * 

when the Chamber and Senate are to unite in one body to decide what the 
future form of government will be, and to revise the Constitution. 
*See page 35. 
. f The Restoration, the Orleans monarchy, and the second Empire. 



Appendix D. 349 

is the Republic, not of the republicans, but of the anti-repub- 
licans. It belongs to them and to them alone. 

What is the explanation of this misconduct ? Here is the 
answer, which I have heard given for more than half a century: 
France is failing, is going to perish ; she must be saved ! Fatal 
idea, forerunner of all the faults of governments which go 
mad before falling to pieces. Alas ! if this remark were true, 
how many times would not France have already perished ! As 
often as she has been in trouble, as often as she has suffered, 
she has not perished ; but those have perished who pretended 
to wish to save her. They have not been able to drag her down 
with them into the abyss ; but she has risen up by the aid of 
honest men, who, after having in vain warned her of the peril 
with which she was being threatened, have done all in their 
power to protect her from it. And, in this connection, I pray 
the true conservatives, the honest men whom I do not confound 
with the sham conservatives who have the floor to-day, — I pray 
them to recall all the occasions on which they have exclaimed : 
France is in danger, let us save her, and to save her. let us 
resist, let us resist ! 

Resistance has been tried, and with what result ? Under 
Charles X, under Louis-Philippe, and under Napoleon III the 
cry was : Let us resist. What was asked under Charles X ? 
The recognition of the principle that the King could do nothing 
without the Chamber, that is to say, without the country. A 
resistance, culminating in the famous Ordinances, was kept up. 
But France did not perish ; it was the throne of Charles X 
which was destroyed, and all parliamentary principles were, at 
the same time, consecrated by the Charter of 1830.* France 
suffered without doubt ; but she soon revived, and it seemed as 
though her prosperity would continue a long time. One point, 
unfortunately, had been overlooked. The suffrage was too 
restricted. Two hundred thousand voters represented a popu- 
lation of thirty-seven million. It was evident to everybody that 
two hundred thousand citizens could not pretend to represent 
France entire. A modest reform, which would make thirty or 
forty thousand more voters, was demanded. Immediately was 
heard the cry : France is going to perish, if the revolution 
which is threatening be not resisted ! Resistance was made : 
the revolution of 1848 broke out ; and we had universal suffrage, 

* See pages 48 and 49. 



o 



5o Life of Thiers. 



that is to say, from eight to nine million voters. France, how- 
ever, did not perish, but constitutional monarchy, which might 
have given us a judicious measure of liberty, did perish ; and 
France, after suffering — for every revolution occasions suffering 
— became herself again and passed through the three years of 
agitation and disorder, which brought her to Napoleon III. 
He acted promptly, and, to save France, took away all our/ 
liberties at one sweep. The Imperial Constitution of 1804 was 
re-established. The press and Parliament were both muzzled. 
Every year the budget could be discussed two weeks each session, 
and then silence. The Emperor alone governed, the Emperor 
alone ! Every liberty was in his hands, which, in spite of him- 
self, finally had to open. Every liberty escaped from him. 
This would, perhaps, have saved him, if the old cry had not 
been immediately sounded : France is going to perish ! Then 
he instinctively sought in war a refuge from regenerated liberty. 
This time, indeed, France came near perishing. She was, how- 
ever, only dismembered. She was obliged to yield to the vic- 
torious enemy an enormous portion of her riches. But finally 
she recovered ; and, after trying to re-establish the Absolute 
Monarchy, she founded the Republic. 

France has not perished ; but three regimes have perished, 
and France has been subjected to cruel trials, before she finally 
attained, after three attempts, the modern democratic form of 
government. She has made continual progress, presenting the 
grandest spectacle of terror or admiration to the world, and 
always showing herself worthy of the world's imitation. 

I supplicate those honest men, those very honest and culti- 
vated men, who are more cultivated than well-informed and 
who are, unfortunately, very timid, — I supplicate them to look 
at this picture of successive disasters and to reflect upon it. 

The torrent — which they look upon as evil and before which 
they cry each time, that France is going to perish, that resistance 
must be employed, is it not this great century which is called 
the nineteenth, and which sweeps all humanity along with it ? 
Who made this nineteenth century ? Not we, no more than we 
made the sixteenth, whence sprang Bacon and Descartes, that 
is to say, modern philosophy ; or the seventeenth century, the 
age of Pascal, of Bossuet, of Newton and of Leibnitz ; or the 
eighteenth, which produced Montesquieu, Voltaire, Rousseau, 
the great Frederick and that grand French philosophy, which, 
applying the human mind to the study of the laws of society, 



Appendix D. 35 1 

destroyed feudal monarchies, and which, applying science to 
the welfare of man, gave to Europe and the two worlds " the 
rights of man, — " not the equality of conditions but the equality 
of rights, the means of securing the equality of conditions in so 
far as possible ; which freed the serfs of Russia, the negroes of 
America, which gave steam to man, freedom of thought and 
freedom of conscience to all peoples ; which opened to the 
vision of men the celestial spheres, and revealed to Laplace the 
secret of the world's system. And is not this resistance a veri- 
table anachronism, this foolish resistance to that progress by 
which all humanity has so greatly profited, and of which France 
had the honor of giving the signal ? for she has marched, the 
torch of genius in her hand, at the head of humanity. 

Would it not be well, therefore, after so many downfalls, tore- 
fleet, to ask one's self and to inquire, if it be not the march of 
humanity that is feared, if it be not this that is foolishly resisted ? 
France has not perished ; but three monarchies have perished. 
Their debi-is covers the ground ; their heirs, rising up again and 
threatening each other, wish to fight over the ruins. Let us 
stop them, let us compel them to support the Government of all, 
and to the profit of all, and let us repeat everywhere this truth :* 

* The facsimile of Thiers's handwriting, given at the commencement of 
this document, begins here and goes to the clause : "2. The Republic is the 
form of government, etc," 

The French text of the facsimile runs as follows : 

" La monarchic n'est pas possible. Elle seraitla guerre civile, ou differee 
ou immediate. 

" Faisons done la Republique, la Republique honnete, sage, dit conserva- 
trice, qui n'est pas impossible ; car elle commencait quand les herftiers in- 
teresses des monarchies detruites sont venus la troubler et faireretentir a nos 
oreilles des menaces insensees et criminelles ; et vous, electeurs, a ces con- 
tempteurs de toute verite, faites leur entendre une derniere fois, une fois de- 
cisive, les verites suivantes, qui seront le resultat de votre vote : 

" La nation seule est souveraine." 

In the text, as published in the Re'publique Francaise, the first paragraph 
of the above extract reads as follows : 

" La monarchic n'est pas possible ; elle aurait pour consequence immedi- 
ate ou prochaine la guerre civile." 

In the second paragraph, the two words printed in italics do not occur. 

We call attention to these little discrepances, because Mignet, in his intro- 
ductory note, (see the beginning ot Appendix D,) says, speaking of this letter 

of Thiers to his constituents : " he (Thiers) had time to review the first 

part of it. The remainder needed revision, and he had reserved this task 
for the day that took him from us. We have not thought it best to make 
any change in these last views of M. Thiers." (" Nous n'avons voulu faire 
aucune modification a la derniere pensee de M. Thiers.") 

The reactionary newspapers of Paris pronounced this document apocryphal 



o 



52 Life of Thiers. 



The Monarchy is not possible ; it would have for its immediate 
or early result, civil war. Let us then found the Republic, the 
honest, wise, conservative Republic, which is not impossible ; 
for it began when the interested heirs of the fallen monarchies 
came to trouble it, and to make our ears ring with insane and 
criminal threats. And you, fellow citizens, by your votes, make 
these men who scorn the truth listen a last and decisive time to 
the following truths : i. The nation alone is sovereign. 2. The 
Republic is the form of government by means of which the nation 
exercises its sovereignty. 3. The sovereignty is exercised by an 
elective chief executive, named the President of the Republic, 
and by two Chambers acting in accordance with the forms 
prescribed by the Constitution. 4. The elective chief executive 
can govern only with the co-operation of these two Chambers, 
and ministers approved by the majority. 5. The co-operation 
of one Chamber is not sufficient, and laws and subsidies voted 
by a single Chamber are absolutely null and void. 6. Taxes 
not voted by both Chambers can not be collected, and an 
attempt to levy them is an attack on the Constitution, on the 
property and liberty of the people. 7. Incase of disagreement, 
attested by a vote, between the governing powers, and especially 
between the President and the elective Chamber, if this Chamber 
be dissolved, the executive power is bound to convoke a new 
one with the least possible delay. If the delay be protracted 
to a period longer than is absolutely necessary, the spirit of the 
law is violated ; if it be for more than ninety days, the text of 
the law is violated, and it should be looked upon as a defiance 
of the Constitution. 8. When the elections have been regularly 
held, the contest is at an end ; and resistance to the will of the 
nation is resistance to the Constitution itself. 9. A new disso- 
lution can only occur after a session which gives rise to new 
questions, on which the country has not already voted. 10. Any- 
thing which violates the prescriptive rights rigorously deduced 
from our laws and Constitution, is an act of usurpation and a case 
of culpability provided for by Article 19 of the Constitution. 
11. A free ballot is an essential principle. The expression of 
all opinions should be free, and every act which hinders this, 
by abusing the laws regulating the circulation of newspapers, 

when it was about to be published, and said that it was a sharp dodge of the 
republicans to influence the elections then close at hand. This statement 
was even cabled to America. This facsimile, however, gives the lie to the 
assertion and conclusively proves the authenticity of the document. 



Appendix D. 353 

the hawking them on the streets, is an infringement on public 
rights. The daily press, the railroads, colportage, bill-posting, 
belong to the public. Nobody has a right to limit the freedom 
of the press beyond the regulations established in the interest 
of public morals. 12. As regards church matters, religious 
liberty is a principle of the French nation. Every sect rec- 
ognized by the State should be protected, properly endowed, 
and profoundly respected, but should be strictly prohibited 
from interfering in State affairs. 13. French policy is a peace 
policy, except where the protection of national interests require 
a resort to force, and after the solemn decision of the public 
powers. 

On these principles has been based the nation's policy since 
1789. France wishes to continue to remain faithful to them, 
and it is important that you consecrate them decisively by your 
suffrages. It is the only wise and useful end that the nation 
ought to make to this crisis, and it may be briefly summed up 
as follows : National sovereignty, the Republic, liberty, scru- 
pulous regard for the law, religious freedom, and peace. 

Such are, my fellow citizens, the opinions of my whole life, 
and those of the nineteenth century, which will distinguish the 
history of France and of humanity, and which I trust you will 
support on this solemn occasion. A thousand calumnies will 
be cast upon me. You will reply to them by your votes, which 
have never been wanting for almost half a century. 

A. Thiers. 



G. P. PUTNAM'S SONS have in preparation a scries of volumes, to be 
issued under the title of 

CURRENT DISCUSSION, 

A COLLECTION FROM THE CHIEF ENGLISH ESSAYS ON QUESTIONS 
OF THE TIME. 

The series will be edited by Edward L. Burlingame, and is designed to 
bring together, for the convenience of readers and for a lasting place in the 
library, those important and representative papers from recent English periodi- 
cals, which may fairly be said to form the best history of the thought and in- 
vestigation of the last few years. It is characteristic of recent thought and 
science, that a much larger proportion than ever before of their most important 
work has appeared in the form of contributions to reviews and magazines ; the 
thinkers of the day submitting their results at once to the great public, which is 
easiest reached in this way, and holding their discussions before a large audience, 
rather than in the old form of monographs reaching the special student only. 
As a consequence there are subjects of the deepest present and permanent in- 
terest, almost all of whose literature exists only ip 'he shape of detached papeis, 
individually so famous that their topics and opinions are in everybody's mouth 
— yet collectively only accessible, for re-reading and comparison, to those -who 
have carefully preserved them, or who are painstaking enough to study lung 
files of periodicals. 

In so collecting these separate papers as to give the reader a fair if not 
complete view of the discussions in which they form a part ; to make them 
convenient for reference in the future progress of those discussions ; and especi- 
ally to enable them to be preserved as an important part of the histoiy of 
modern thought, — it is believed that this series will do a service that will be 
widely appreciated. 

Such papers naturally include three classes : — those which by their originality 
have recently led discussion into altogether new channels ; those which have 
attracted deserved attention as powerful special pleas upon one side or the 
other in great current questions ; and finally, purely critical and analytical dis- 
sertations. The series will aim to include the best representatives of each of 
these classes of expression. 



It is designed to arrange the essays included in the Series under such gen- 
eral divisions as the following, to each of which one or more volumes will be 
devoted : — 

INTERNATIONAL POLITICS, NATURAL SCIENCE. 

RECENT ARCHAEOLOGICAL DISCOVERY, 

QUESTIONS OF BELIEF, 

ECONOMICAL AND SOCIAL SCIENCE, 

HISTORY AND BIOGRAPHY, LITERARY TOPICS. 

Among the material selected for the first volume (International Politics), 
which will be issued immediately, are the following papers : 

Archibald Forbes's Essay on "The Russians, Turks, and Bul- 
garians;" Vsct. Stratford de Redcliffe's "Turkey;" Mr. Glad- 
stone's "Montenegro;" Professor Goldwin Smith's Paper on "The 
Political Destiny of Canada," and his Essay called " The Slaveholder 
and the Turk;" Professor Blackie's "Prussia in the Nineteenth Cen- 
tury ; " Edward Dicey's "Future of Egypt;" Louis Kossuth's 
"What is in Store for Europe;" and Professor Freeman's "Relation 
of the English People to the War." 

Among the contents of the second volume (Questions of Belief), are : 

The two well-known "Modern Symposia;" the Discussion by Professor 
Huxley, Mr. Hutton, Sir J. F. Stephen, Lord Selborne, James Martin- 
eau, Frederic Harrison, the Dean of St. Paul's, the Duke of Argyll, 
and others, on "The Influence upon Morality of a Decline in a Re- 
ligious Belief; " and the Discussion byHuxLEY, Hutton, Lord Blatchford, 
the Hon. Roden Noel, Lord Selborne, Canon Barry, Greg, the Rev. 
Baldwin Brown, Frederic Harrison, and others, on "The Soul and 
Future Life. Also, Professor Calderwood's " Ethical Aspects of the 
Development Theory ;" Mr. G. H. Lewes's Paper on "The Course of 
Modern Thought;" Thomas Hughes on "The Condition and Pros- 
spects of the Church of England;" W. H. Mallock's "Is Lins 
Worth Living ? " Frederic Harrison's " The Soul and Future Life ; ' 
and the Rev. R. F. Littledale's " The Pantheistic Factor in Christian 
Thought." 

The volumes will be printed in a handsome crown octavo form, and wil 
sell for about $i 50 each. 

G. P. PUTNAM'S SONS, 182 Fifth Avenue, New York. 



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